Red Bull boss Christian Horner said he “didn’t really understand” how Mercedes tried to defend fifth place from Max Verstappen in Monaco, branding the strategy “defeatist”.
A multiple car crash on the opening lap, including by Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez, brought out the red flag and a standing restart, giving drivers the chance to run to the end on that set of tyres, which Mercedes’ George Russell did on the medium tyre.
Christian Horner criticises Mercedes’ Monaco strategy as ‘defeatist’
Additional reporting by Sam Cooper
Russell completed a 77-lap stint on medium tyres and dropped to fifth place as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pitted and closed in on the Mercedes soon after, but Russell then picked up the pace significantly to finish five seconds behind leader Lando Norris in the leader’s McLaren.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won on home soil for the first time, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz also making it onto the podium.
Verstappen was half a second behind Russell at the chequered flag and Horner was baffled by Mercedes’ strategy, calling it “very defeatist”.
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Asked by media, including PlanetF1.com, if 2024 was likely to be a tougher season for Red Bull than many had expected, Horner replied: “Yes, I think so.”
“Maybe not Mercedes, but I think Ferrari and McLaren are certainly competitive and cannot be taken lightly. So this is a very long championship and obviously they gained quite a bit of points today.”
“I didn’t really understand Mercedes’ race today. George sacrificed so much time and was so fast at the end of the race, so it was a very conservative race, but it didn’t mean much.”
“But I don’t think it would have made a difference… They weren’t trying to overtake anyone. It was a very defeatist race, just trying to defend fifth place.”
Russell elaborated further on Mercedes’ strategy, explaining that the threat of Verstappen coming from behind was “fairly controlled”.
“It’s been a long and strange race,” he told Sky F1.
“For the first 30 laps I was just taking it easy, then when Max came in I stepped on the gas a bit. It was only afterwards that I realised how much the gap to Ferrari and McLaren had closed, so I was really happy.”
“And of course Max put me under a bit of pressure, but it was pretty controlled.
“Obviously, when the red flag came out it was frustrating for everyone because all we could hope for to have a good race in Monaco was to add a bit of excitement to our strategy and that strategy was ruined, but we gave it our best effort.
“I did 77 laps on the medium tyre and I’m really happy with it. Like I said, I got the gap to McLaren down to 20 seconds and then at the end I got it down to six or five seconds, so I was really surprised that it lasted that long.”
“There are a lot of positives. The car is running well, the team is working hard and we’re excited for the next race.”
Leclerc’s victory in Monaco reduced Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ championship to 31 points.
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