Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz failed to take advantage of "free" pit stop when Lando Norris crashed, helping Max Verstappen to hold on for victory; Spanish Grand Prix is next race on calendar on weekend of May 20-22 with full coverage only on Sky Sports F1
Monday 9 May 2022 01:18, UK
Christian Horner believes Red Bull "got lucky" when Ferrari failed to take advantage of a late Safety Car to pit for fresh tyres at the Miami Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen had overtaken pole-sitter Charles Leclerc early in Sunday's race, but a crash for Lando Norris with 16 laps remaining provided an opportunity for Ferrari to seize back the initiative.
A Virtual Safety Car was initially deployed, but with Verstappen already past the pit lane when a full Safety Car was confirmed, both Leclerc and Sainz could have stopped for soft tyres and given themselves a significant advantage after the restart.
However, both cars opted to stay out and Red Bull Team Principal Horner believes that decision helped Verstappen to fend off Leclerc in the closing stages and win the race.
"We got lucky," Horner told Sky Sports.
"Max had crossed the pit line while it was a VSC. Then your worst nightmare... it went full Safety Car and that gives Leclerc and Sainz a free stop.
"Thankfully they missed it with both of their cars so we were effectively still on the same strategy, or they would have had a significant advantage.
"We were let off the hook by Ferrari just through timing. They could have put a soft on and they had a free stop.
"That's the frustrating thing. You just don't know when it's going from a virtual to a full and that's your risk at the front of the field. Thankfully it was all neutralised."
Verstappen, who had passed Leclerc for the lead on lap nine, was recording similar times to his rival after both pitted for hard tyres and he later admitted his frustration at the deployment of a Safety Car.
He told Sky Sports: "I was not very happy when the safety car came out, but these things happen and they have helped me in the past in some races so you can't complain.
"In the restart we went for it again.
"Initially I was struggling with cold tyres, I didn't have the grip, but as soon as they came up to temperature I could pull away a little bit."
Verstappen claimed a bonus point for fastest lap and eventually finished 3.8 seconds ahead of Leclerc to cut the gap in the drivers' championship to 19 points.
And Horner praised the Dutchman's performance under pressure in the closing stages on a Miami circuit with three DRS zones.
"Once Charles was in the DRS we couldn't shake him off and for Max, it is so much pressure in that position," he said.
"It is easy to just lock a wheel, but he kept it clean and didn't make any mistakes. Then it took five or six laps to break the DRS and he was able to manage it from there.
"The problem was the DRS was so powerful, they were able to close in on that first section and then we couldn't drop them on the rest of the lap.
"Finally I think Charles had a little moment and Max was able to use it and broke the DRS and was able to build a lead."
