“We already knew he had a DRS issue” – Red Bull’s Christian Horner

Oracle Red Bull Racing lead the Constructors’ championship, following another 1-2 finish with Max Verstappen continuing his run of winning every race he finishes in 2022. The Dutchman also now leads the Drivers’ standings.

It was an enthralling Spanish Grand Prix, which did present Red Bull with a number of issues. Verstappen lost ground on Charles Leclerc early on after running into the gravel, but also suffered from a faulty DRS. This made passing George Russell virtually impossible later in the race, an issue which Sergio Pérez also found.

Eventually, with Leclerc retiring and both Red Bull’s finding their way past the British driver, Red Bull were left with a much-needed 1-2 finish. It wasn’t all plain sailing though with who would take the win, as Pérez whilst in the lead, was asked by the team to give the Dutchman the position. Pérez followed the instructions but informed his team that a chat was needed after the race.

Team Principal Christian Horner was extremely happy with the result, and was happy to see both of the Red Bull drivers working together. Horner also noted that the team knew prior to the race that Verstappen had a DRS problem.

“It is fantastic for the Team to bring home our second 1-2 finish in three races, which was hugely important for us in the fight for both Championships. Both drivers got great starts and things were settling down quite nicely, but a massive gust of wind sent Max into a slide and that dropped him down to fourth.

“We already knew he had a DRS issue, so at that point we decided to convert him to a three-stop strategy and give him tyre advantage over Leclerc and Russell – but we were still undecided whether a two or three stop was the better choice at that stage. With Checo on a two-stop strategy it meant both drivers were working as a Team and covering the opposition. To get maximum points today was our aim, it was hugely important for us as a Team and I’m glad we were all able to work together to achieve that.”