Red Bull’s Christian Horner: “It was important to get both cars as high up as possible”

Oracle Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner was pleased with the team’s finish at the Australian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen giving the team their first win in Melbourne since 2011.

Verstappen took victory after starting from pole position but it wasn’t as easy as it might seem. The Dutchman lost out to both of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on the first lap, and had to work his way back up to first place.

“It was a complicated race made up of three parts. The first start didn’t go our way but in the restart Max was able to hold position, battle Lewis for the lead and really control the race from there.”

The race was a chaotic one, with a number of red flags and Horner was critical of that labelling it frustrating but he was thankful it didn’t have an effect on Red Bull.

“While the marshals are always acting in the interest of safety, and driver safety is paramount, the restart at the end of the race was a little frustrating. Thankfully, it didn’t cost us anything, we had great pace with the car and Max was on great form.

“For Max to claim the victory was testament to his driving, but equally, credit must go to the Team both here and at home, all of whom worked together to deliver a great race.”

Sergio Pérez had a much different weekend to Verstappen after starting from the pitlane due to an issue in qualifying that saw him not complete a lap. The Mexican driver made some excellent overtaking moves to get up to fifth and even take the point for fastest lap.

“Checo also drove phenomenally well, bringing home the fastest lap and securing P5 in the end. It was a great recovery, from the back of the grid, in the pits, on a track where it is very difficult to overtake.

“All in all we are very happy with our performance and thrilled to bring home a win on our 350th race at a track we haven’t won at in 10 years.”