christian horner – Syndication Server

Tsunoda looking for Bahrain reset after ‘mixed feelings’ from Red Bull debut

Yuki Tsunoda says his confidence changed massively through the Japanese Grand Prix weekend but he will need to reset ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Red Bull swapped Liam Lawson and Tsunoda ahead of the race at Suzuka, demoting Lawson to …

Yuki Tsunoda says his confidence changed massively through the Japanese Grand Prix weekend but he will need to reset ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Red Bull swapped Liam Lawson and Tsunoda ahead of the race at Suzuka, demoting Lawson to Racing Bulls after just two events. While the move looked to be paying off as Tsunoda enjoyed a strong set of practice sessions and Q1 outing, he failed to escape Q2 and was stuck in traffic that prevented him from scoring points, something he admits was a big disappointment at his home race despite the experience he gained.

“It’s tough because I wanted to at least finish in the points,” Tsunoda said. “I am happy with the race in terms of what I have learnt but not in terms of result, so it’s mixed feelings. I was feeling a lot of support from the crowd, every lap it felt more and I wanted to give something more back to them.

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“At least I know I did the maximum I could in the race and these 53 laps gave me so much to learn about the car. I now know what kind of things I need to work on. I was stuck behind cars all day in traffic so it’s hard to know the full race pace of this car but, every lap of the 53, I was building up my confidence in the car.

“That confidence level is now completely different from the beginning of the weekend to now, I feel positive about that, but I am still disappointed because it is a home grand prix and it’s only once a year.

“I need to reset before Bahrain and I am sure compared to what I was feeling, in terms of car and in terms of confidence it will naturally be better there. I will understand more about the car, and I am excited for the next one, I just need to do better in qualifying.”

Team principal Christian Horner agrees with Tsunoda that he is capable of better results based on the performance he showed at times during the Suzuka weekend, and says he’s impressed with how the 24-year-old has settled into the team.

“He’s given very good feedback,” Horner said. “His P1 was very strong, P3 was fine, Q1 he was only a tenth away from Max… Q2 he made a mistake – he was 15ks quicker than he’s ever been into Turn 1, had a moment and then you’re chasing the lap the rest of the way.

“So qualifying 14th dictated his race. He made an overtake and had an undercut on Pierre Gasly. And then spent the rest of the afternoon looking at Fernando Alonso’s rear wing.

“But in a race where there was… I can’t remember seeing any overtakes, at all … I think that had he qualified higher he would have finished naturally higher. I think he’s given good feedback. And I think that now he’s finding his feet in the team, we’ll see over the next few races that performance will step forward.”

Horner claims Perez chose to take time out

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner claims Sergio Perez chose “to take a bit of time out” from Formula 1, despite the driver insisting he intended to continue racing. Perez repeatedly stated he had a contract to race for Red Bull for another …

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner claims Sergio Perez chose “to take a bit of time out” from Formula 1, despite the driver insisting he intended to continue racing.

Perez repeatedly stated he had a contract to race for Red Bull for another two seasons and had no intention of leaving right up until the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when he acknowledged that talks had been planned relating to his future. After the announcement that an agreement has been reached between Perez and Red Bull for him to leave the team with immediate effect, Horner said the departure was instigated by the Mexican.

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“It’s been a culmination of things,” Horner told ESPN. “Checo started the season so strongly, four podiums out of five races. It felt like he’d taken off where he left off last year.

“But then really from Monte Carlo, that race onwards, it has been a very tough year for him and we’ve tried everything with him and supporting him and basically he has come to his own conclusion that I think that now is the right time to step away from Formula 1 to take a bit of time out.”

Sources close to Perez refute Horner’s claims, but the Red Bull team principal also states his belief that the 34-year-old might not return to F1, with no race seats available in 2025 outside of the Red Bull set-up.

“I think the thing for Checo is to take a bit of time out, spend it with his family,” Horner said. “He has been on the treadmill for a long time now and [he has to] work out whether he wants to keep going in Formula 1 or maybe look at other categories, maybe sports cars or something along those lines.

“But I think foremost and utmost, he needs to take some time out and see how much he misses driving a grand prix car, and then only he can decide what he wants for the future.”

RACER understands Liam Lawson is in line to replace Perez, and Horner told Sky Sports: “We have all the information that we need.

“Essentially it will be a choice between Yuki [Tsunoda] and Liam. Both have got strong credentials. We tested Yuki recently at the tire test in Abu Dhabi for a chance for him to work with the engineering team. Liam has done a lot of testing with us behind the scenes this year as well and has driven very well in the six or seven races that he’s had.

“So, we have all the information. We’re just looking at and considering all of that, speaking with the engineering team as well, and we’ll come to a conclusion in the coming days.”

Horner laughs off Wolff comments: ‘I love terriers’

Christian Horner laughed off barbs from Toto Wolff that described the Red Bull team principal as a “yapping little terrier” at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Wolff made an impromptu appearance during a George Russell press conference on Thursday to …

Christian Horner laughed off barbs from Toto Wolff that described the Red Bull team principal as a “yapping little terrier” at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Wolff made an impromptu appearance during a George Russell press conference on Thursday to defend his driver and criticize Horner for his use of the term “hysterical” when describing Russell’s behavior at times during the Qatar Grand Prix weekend. When the comments were put to Horner, he remained relatively reserved, saying there are worse things to be described as.

“I love terriers — I think they are great dogs!” Horner said. “I’ve had four! A couple of airedales, which are the king of the terriers. I had couple of West Highland terriers called Bernie and Flavio. The good thing with terriers is that they are tremendously loyal. Bernie was an aggressive little dog — he’d go for anybody. Flavio was a bit more chilled out, he maybe ate too much as well.

“Look, to be called a terrier, is that such a bad thing? They are not afraid to have a go at the bigger dogs. I’d rather be called a terrier than a wolf, maybe.”

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Horner says he doesn’t believe the recent falling out between Russell and Max Verstappen is re-opening animosity between the top personnel at Red Bull and Mercedes, despite Wolff claiming Horner has been “weak” in the way he has handled his driver.

“Toto’s quite dramatic as we all know,” he said. “I wasn’t talking about the psychology of his driver. When I was referring to hysterics, I was more referring to the roasting that he gave his team when they fitted a set of hards onto the car when he’d asked for a set of mediums and expressed his displeasure for the tire choice that they’d put on the car. I’d get fined if I were to repeat the language he used in this press conference.

“A lot has been said — we know Toto likes to talk a lot but that’s the way it is. For us, we just want to finish the season on a high, have a great race, see these guys battle it out and hopefully everybody then can have a well-earned break and rest after this race.

“Regarding Toto’s other comments, I’m not going to raise to the bait of that. Everybody manages themselves and their teams in different ways. We’ve won 122 races, we’ve won 14 world championships. I think we’re doing all right.”

Horner also doesn’t expect the situation to spill out onto the track, despite Russell’s claim that Verstappen had threatened to intentionally crash into him in Qatar.

“Max is a very straight shooter — he tells you exactly how he sees it,” Horner said. “He tells the truth, exactly what he feels. He had a large amount of frustration last weekend with the way things played out. It was a scenario we hadn’t seen before, with the subsequent grid penalty. He turned it into motivation and had a blinding start. He won the grand prix, which was the best possible response.

“Obviously a lot was made of it yesterday — it’s pantomime season. We are getting ready for Christmas. So there’s maybe some end-of-term blues there but I don’t think it will have any effect on the grand prix itself.”

Wolff hits out at ‘yapping little terrier’ Horner

The hostility between the Mercedes and Red Bull camps was kicked up another notch ahead of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff referred to his Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner as a “yapping little …

Horner attributed the penalty handed out to Max Verstappen at the Qatar Grand Prix as being “more based on hysterics from George [Russell], who has been quite hysterical this weekend,” That followed Verstappen saying he had lost all respect for Russell due to the way he had lobbied for a punishment in the stewards’ room on Saturday night.

However, with Russell addressing the situation for the first time by claiming Verstappen had threatened to purposely crash into him, Wolff unexpectedly joined his driver during a media session in Abu Dhabi and stated his belief that Horner has enabled Verstappen’s behavior.

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“I think as a team principal, it’s important to be a sparring partner for your drivers,” Wolff said. “And that means explaining that things can be more nuanced. Statements that are absolute, thinking that everything is either 100 percent right or 100 percent wrong, is something I just think you need to explain. Think of more nuance, depending on your perception and your perspective.

“You need to allow for something to be 51-49; you need to allow for it to be 70-30. There is always another side. Maybe when you look at it that way, and you explain it to your drivers and to your team, you come to the conclusion that there is truth on both sides. If you don’t do that, you’re falling short of your role. It’s just weak.

“At the end, why does he [Horner] feel entitled to comment about my driver? How does that come? But even thinking about it, I’ve spent 90 seconds to think about it… Yapping little terrier. Always something to say.”

Wolff says he is not keen on interfering between the two drivers as they each criticize each other for their conduct in Qatar, but that he wanted to address Horner’s comments himself.

“I tell you clearly: There is a thing between drivers, and this is George and Max, and I don’t want to get involved in that, but if the other team principal calls George hysteric, this is where he crosses a line for me. Now, his forte for sure is not intellectual psychoanalysis, but that’s quite a word. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver.”

Red Bull letting Perez ‘come to his own conclusions’ over future

Red Bull is allowing Sergio Perez to “come to his own conclusions” about the likelihood of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix being his last race for the team. Perez has endured a tough 2024, scoring just four podiums – in the first five rounds of the season …

Red Bull is allowing Sergio Perez to “come to his own conclusions” about the likelihood of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix being his last race for the team.

Perez has endured a tough 2024, scoring just four podiums – in the first five rounds of the season – and currently sits a distant eighth in the drivers’ championship. The gap to teammate Max Verstappen currently stands at 277 points, and Red Bull can no longer defend its constructors’ championship title, leading to a shareholder meeting after the season finale to discuss his future.

“Checo has had a very tough year,” team principal Christian Horner said. “Obviously the points tables are what they are. We’re very much focused on really supporting him to the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi, and then obviously it’s not an enjoyable situation for Checo, being in this position with speculation every week.

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“He’s old enough and wise enough to know what the situation is, and let’s see where we are after Abu Dhabi.

“I’m going to let Checo come to his own conclusions, nobody’s forcing him one way or another, I’m going to let him… it’s not a nice situation for him to obviously be in.

“We’ve got one more race this year, we’ll throw everything at it, and hopefully he can have a strong race to end the season in Abu Dhabi.”

Despite Helmut Marko already acknowledging the shareholder meeting, Horner insists discussions over Perez’s future will be discussed privately. However, he would not speculate over the Mexican’s position within the team beyond the final race, even though Perez has a further two years on his contract.

“Checo can’t be enjoying the situation that he’s got at the moment. He’s determined to finish the season on a high,” he said. “Anything regarding the drivers will always be dealt with behind closed doors, and most of all I think our priority is to get to the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi. Let’s see if we can finish the season on a more positive note with Checo.”

Should a change be made, RACER understands Red Bull would likely promote one of Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda, and turn to F2 title contender Isack Hadjar for an RB seat over bringing in Franco Colapinto.

“[Colapinto] for sure, is a talent that’s looking to earn his permanent place in Formula 1,” said Horner. “We have a great pool of talent within the Red Bull junior team, and I’m sure Franco will find his way onto the grid in the future.

“You’re always keeping your eye on what the market is in all teams but we have the strength and depth in the junior program. It was good to see Isack Hadjar doing a good job [in Qatar] in Formula 2 as well.

“I think there’s what, half a point between the drivers going into the final race in Abu Dhabi. Liam and Yuki were very closely matched in that race, in terms of pace, so we’ve got a full stable of drivers.”

Horner refuses to confirm whether Perez will see out season

Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull could be under threat in the remaining four rounds of the season following what team principal Christian Horner described as a “horrible weekend” at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Horner gave Perez the target of scoring …

Horner gave Perez the target of scoring points and beating Oscar Piastri in Sunday’s race after the Mexican dropped out in Q1 – along with the McLaren driver – during a disappointing Saturday. A strong start from Perez was negated by his being out of position on the grid, which earned him a time penalty, and after he made contact with Liam Lawson his race unraveled to eventually finish 17th.

“Checo again has had a horrible weekend,” Horner said. “Nothing has gone right for him this weekend. He knows Formula 1 is a results-based business and inevitably when you are not delivering, the spotlight is firmly on you.

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“When anyone is underperforming, of course there is always going to be scrutiny on that. As a team we need to have both cars scoring points. That is the nature of Formula 1.

“It’s constant. It’s always there. From the team’s perspective we are working with him as hard as we can to try and support him, we’ve done everything that we can and we’ll continue to do so in Brazil next weekend, but there comes a point in time that you can only do so much.”

Pushed on whether Perez will see out the season, Horner refused to confirm his place beyond the next race in Interlagos.

“That scrutiny is always going to be there,” he said. “There comes a point in time that difficult decisions have to be made. We’re now third in the constructor’s championship. Our determination is to try and get back into a winning position, but it’s going to be a tall order over these next four races.”

Horner did acknowledge that the contact with Lawson had led to significant damage that limited Perez’s chances of getting back into the top 10 despite his earlier penalty.

“Unfortunately he started out of box position, so he picked up a penalty for that,” he said. “His first lap was strong. His start was strong. And then the damage he picked up with Liam, he picked up about 70 points worth of load with a hole in the sidepod and half the side of the floor missing (main image). So at that point, you’re effectively wounded and scoring points was never going to be on the cards.

“First of all I think it demonstrates that the two teams do race each other, and whilst having the same ownership are independent in the way that they go racing. Liam has apologized, I think, to Checo for the incident. Obviously they’ll be lessons that come out of that, but frustrating certainly for Checo’s race to pick up the damage and lose valuable points.”

Red Bull’s Horner says F1 racing rules are ‘crystal clear’

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the rules that Formula 1 drivers have to adhere to when racing are “crystal clear” and there was no ambiguity in the battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the United States Grand Prix. …

Verstappen overtook Norris at Turn 1 at the start of the race but appeared to completely leave the track on the corner exit after forcing the McLaren wide, before he again left the track defending the inside late on at Turn 12. On the second occasion, Norris went wide and rejoined ahead of Verstappen, picking up a five-second time penalty that Horner says was the obvious outcome.

“First of all, the racing between the two of them, it was competitive and great to watch and obviously all the drivers know acutely what the rules are,” Horner said. “They discuss these issues in particular corners in the briefings with the various stewards and driver stewards and race director.

“The pass was made off-track. We’ve been on the receiving end of that. In fact, here [Circuit of The Americas], I think, against Kimi [Raikkonen] in 2018. For us, it was crystal clear that the pass had been made off the track, so he should have given the place back. He chose not to, therefore there was a penalty. So for us, it was very much a black-and-white scenario.

“I think it’s very difficult for the stewards, and every incident is different so you have to look at every incident individually. When you’re on the receiving end of it, it’s not nice. As I say, we’ve been on the receiving end of it numerous times, not just at this track, but at other tracks. So, they all know what’s at stake.

“What I perhaps didn’t understand was it was clear there was going to be a penalty — or it looked pretty clear there was going to be a penalty — with the car advantage and tire advantage that McLaren had at that point of the race, it looked like he went to give the place back up at Turn 1, but there was some confusion there. If he’d have given the place back immediately, he would have probably had enough pace to make the pass [again].”

Horner said the opening-lap incident was not noted by the stewards because all teams and drivers have asked for more leniency in such situations.

“We discussed these many, many times. It goes back to Niki Lauda, making an impassioned plea to [former race director] Charlie Whiting of ‘just let them race,’” he said. “It was agreed then for the first lap, it used to be; now it is very much the first corner, let them race and that was a classic case of that. And they all know that.”

Sealing components makes Red Bull device a non-story – FIA

The FIA believes the steps taken to ensure no team changes the ride height under parc ferme conditions will make it a non-story from the United States Grand Prix onwards. Red Bull has been the focus of attention because a rival team complained to …

The FIA believes the steps taken to ensure no team changes the ride height under parc ferme conditions will make it a non-story from the United States Grand Prix onwards.

Red Bull has been the focus of attention because a rival team complained to the FIA about its design in Singapore, leading to a clampdown from the governing body to ensure no team breaches parc ferme regulations. The FIA’s single seater director Nikolas Tombazis says sealing the component in question once it can no longer be adjusted should rule out any suspicions moving forward and attributes the recent focus to the heat of a championship battle.

“At the previous race, it was pointed out to us that certain designs could allow a change of the height of the front of the car, which some people call a bib, in parc ferme,” Tombazis told Sky Sports. “We didn’t have any indication or any proof that anybody was doing something like that. That would be clearly illegal under parc ferme regulations.

“But as I said, we didn’t have any clear indication that somebody was doing such a thing, so we said from this race onwards, there must be no possibility to do such a thing at all. If a team has a design that would allow a quick change of that height, then it had to be sealed so they could not have access in parc ferme. I think all teams have adhered to that, and as far as we’re concerned, that’s reasonably under control.

“I think it’s certainly not a story from now on. I think we’ve done all that’s needed to stop there being any accusations, and then of course it is a tight championship and people get rather excited about each other’s cars. We can’t definitively close the previous races or any insinuations between teams in a very competitive environment, but in the present situation, we believe it’s a non-story, yes.”

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Tombazis says the FIA is unlikely to revisit previous races and the device’s use, despite Zak Brown’s calls for a full investigation into the way Red Bull has been running its car.

“Honestly, no. We’re talking … a couple of millimeters or something like that, potentially. We’re really talking very, very small numbers. I don’t think it’s something that we could go and check. But as I say, we don’t have any indication or proof or anything like that about something untoward having happened before.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added that the setup has been in place since the start of the current regulations in 2022, and insists it has remained untouched like the rest of the car that is subject to parc ferme regulations.

“Every car has a tool that they can adjust the front of the bib, what we call the front of the floor being the bib,” Horner also told Sky Sports. “Ours is located at the front, in front of the footwell. It’s been there I think for over three years.

“You’ve got to have the pedals out, other panels and pipework out, in order to be able to get to it. It’s like any other adjustment on the car. It would be easier to adjust a rear roll bar than it is to get to that component. It’s all part of the packaging in the front end of the chassis.

“I think there’s been a bit of moaning from one of our rivals, and it’s the FIA’s job to look into these things. It’s on a list of the open source components. It’s been publicly available for the last three years. The FIA are happy with it. I think [maybe this is] just to satisfy some paranoia elsewhere in the paddock.

“It’s obvious that we’re at the start of a tripleheader — could have mentioned it three weeks ago. It was a conversation that we actually had with the FIA in Singapore. They looked at it, they’re more than happy with it…

“Just to explain to the public — there’s probably about 600 items on the car that are fully adjustable. Everybody can adjust these elements. What you can’t do is adjust them during parc ferme, and that is what hasn’t happened.

“As I say, it would be easier to adjust the floor stay or a roll bar or a push rod length than strip out the pedals. We have cameras watching the cars. We have scrutineers and witnesses watching the cars. Our car has come under more scrutiny in the last three years than any other car in the pit lane, so we’re totally comfortable.”

McLaren form leaves Red Bull with ‘hard work’ to do – Horner

Christian Horner says Red Bull has a lot of work to do to try and catch McLaren ahead of the next race in Austin, following Lando Norris’ dominant victory in the Singapore Grand Prix. Norris pulled out a lead of over 20 seconds in the opening part …

Christian Horner says Red Bull has a lot of work to do to try and catch McLaren ahead of the next race in Austin, following Lando Norris’ dominant victory in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Norris pulled out a lead of over 20 seconds in the opening part of Sunday’s race, although he lost some time before his pit stop when he locked up and very nearly hit the barrier. McLaren had asked its driver to open up an advantage of at least five seconds by around lap 15 but Norris went far clear at that point, with Horner admitting it was impressive pace that Red Bull had no answer to.

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“Yeah, that was taking the p***, although I shouldn’t say that in a public capacity!” Horner said. “The pace he had in hand on that tire at that point in time was… at that point we’ve conceded the race on pace. He touched the wall for the first time, then he touched it for the second time but they’ve got away with it.

“I actually think Max [Verstappen] drove a very strong race, and that was what we had, which, when you consider where we were a couple of weeks ago, I think we have made some real progress and obviously, we’ve got a lot of work to do before Austin.”

Horner told Verstappen over the radio about the two occasions Norris touched the barrier during the race, suggesting it showed how close the leader came to costing himself the win.

“It’s to show him he was a lucky bastard. You know, hitting the wall once is usually a wake up call. And to hit it twice, you’ve got somebody smiling on you… Hope I don’t get done for ‘lucky bastard’!”

While joking about the recent requests for drivers not to swear on team radio or in official press conferences, Horner says he was satisfied with the return in Singapore despite Verstappen losing seven points to Norris in the drivers’ championship.

“You have to congratulate Lando and McLaren. They had a very strong car this weekend, and particularly on the first stint they were very quick. I think on the hard tire, we looked in better shape. But of course, the gap is way too big by then at a track that, anyway, is very hard to overtake.

“So I think if you roll back the clock to Friday night, if you’d have said we’d qualify on the front row and take second place a significant amount ahead of the rest of the field, I think we would have certainly taken that.

“But obviously the gap to Lando was significant in the first part of the race, and we’ve now got the best part of a month to work hard and try and bring some performance to the car in Austin.”

Crash on Perez’s return to form ‘hugely frustrating’ – Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says Sergio Perez had the pace to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix before being taken out of the race in a crash with Carlos Sainz on the penultimate lap. Perez had been battling Charles Leclerc for second place …

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says Sergio Perez had the pace to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix before being taken out of the race in a crash with Carlos Sainz on the penultimate lap.

Perez had been battling Charles Leclerc for second place (pictured) when he became tangled in a duel with Sainz, who was closing in on a podium finish with fresher tires in the final stages of the race.

Sainz slipped past Perez at the first turn but missed the apex at Turn 2, opening the door to the Mexican, who got a better exit to drag the Spaniard side by side down to Turn 3. But the two made heavy contact halfway down the straight that ended with both cars clattering into the barriers, forcing a virtual safety car that effectively ended the grand prix.

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The crash was deemed a racing incident in a post-session investigation, with the stewards declaring that while Sainz was drifting towards the middle of the track, Perez could have done more to avoid the collision.

“It’s hugely frustrating,” Horner said before the stewards issued their ruling. “I’ve just watched the incident several times and you can quite clearly see Carlos — if you take the wall as a reference and the white line on the right-hand side of the track — look in his mirror and just drift to the left, knowing that he was there, and Checo doesn’t move left or right. Hugely frustrating to lose that.”

Horner was particularly disappointed that Perez’s first strong race in months went unrewarded.

“I thought he was super,” he said. “It’s frustrating because Checo certainly should’ve been on the podium at the very least in third place, probably second.

“Actually, he could’ve won that race had he not lost a lot of time behind Alex Albon initially and then Lando [Norris] while he was on new tires and Oscar was still out on the old tires.”

McLaren’s team tactics paid lucrative dividends. While Perez was the first of the leading trio to pit for what should have been a powerful undercut, he happened to rejoin the track behind Norris, who started in 15th and was engaging in a long recovery drive.

Norris was asked to slow Perez to give Piastri an extra lap’s tire offset, and the Briton duly obliged with some clever defensive driving through the castle section that allowed his teammate to rejoin from his pit stop fractionally ahead of Perez.

“Lando backed him up, which allowed Oscar to keep track position, and I think without that we would’ve been ahead of Oscar and he would’ve passed Leclerc and he would’ve been fine,” Horner said.

“I thought Checo had a very strong weekend and he had great pace throughout that race. To sit on the tail of that for the entire grand prix distance — he was on the pace throughout the weekend.

“He was demonstrating race-winning performance today. Of course it’s a track that he’s always excelled at, but I think we’ve understood a few things with the car, and it was good to see certainly Checo’s car in contention for the win throughout the race. It’s just a great shame for him not to have capitalized with a podium, which has been costly in constructors points and in crash damage.”

While the points loss from the crash wasn’t the difference between Red Bull retaining and losing the constructors championship lead, it did allow McLaren to open a healthy 20-point advantage in one fell swoop rather than the more modest margin it was set to claim with Piastri in third.

“We’re pushing hard,” Horner said. “We’re now not defending, we’re chasing, so it changes the dynamic again. We’re just going to throw everything at it.”