Christian Horner was delighted with the result of the Sprint race at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari as his Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers claimed first and third on Saturday.
Max Verstappen put behind him a bad start to catch and re-pass Charles Leclerc for the win on the penultimate lap of the twenty-one-lap sprint, while Sergio Pérez climbed from seventh on the grid to complete the podium in third.
Horner, the Team Principal of the Milton Keynes-based squad, said it was an excellent drive from both drivers as they maximised their results, leaving Red Bull in a good position for Sunday’s full-length Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
He praised Verstappen for staying patient and attacking Scuderia Ferrari’s Leclerc when the Monegasque racer’s tyres began to fade, and Pérez for making decisive overtakes to move up the order after being out of position due to the mixed conditions of Qualifying on Friday evening.
“It was a great performance today by both drivers,” said Horner. “All credit to Max, he kept his head, stayed patient and kept his position on the tail of Charles, we could see the Ferrari’s front tyre was starting to go, and when his opportunity to take back the lead came, he took it.
“Checo drove well today and made great progress up the grid to take some valuable points and put himself in a better starting place on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
“Max didn’t have the best start, but we’ve got the data from today, so we’ll need to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes tomorrow. But the good thing is we’ve now got two cars up at the front of the grid and we’ll hope to capitalise on that.”