Christian Horner blames Mercedes’ ‘calculation mistake’ for George Russell’s Belgian GP disqualification

Christian Horner revealed how Mercedes' strategy might've led to George Russell's disqualification from the Belgian GP.

Christian Horner blames Mercedes’ ‘calculation mistake’ for George Russell’s Belgian GP disqualification

Christian Horner and George Russell (via IMAGO)

George Russell finished first at Spa-Francorchamps, beating Lewis Hamilton to win his second race of the season. However, it was found that Russell’s car was lighter than the allowed weight, which meant he would be disqualified. Because of this Mercedes has to lose a crucial 1-2 finish at the last race of the first half of F1 2024. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner expressed his opinion on the incident.

Red Bull bull team principal Christian Horner explained that George Russell lost around a kilogram of rubber from his tires because of the strategy. Horner mentioned a similar thing happened during Friday’s practice session. However, that can not be the only reason as Russell didn’t go on a cool down lap, which driver’s often complete after the race. So Horner reckoned, this two factors could be the reasons behind his disqualification.

I’m sure he would have lost well over a kilo of rubber [through the strategy], we saw that on Friday.
Christian Horner said, as reported by RacingNews365
YouTube video

Christian Horner explained that teams need to have enough fuel left in the car after the race to provide a sample for testing. If they don’t, it’s like using the fuel as ballast, which is against the rules. He stated it’s really unfortunate for Russell, but it seemed like Mercedes is at fault for their fuel miscalculations. Not having enough fuel for a sample was a serious mistake and that’s likely what led to the Britons disqualification.

FS Video
You have to carry enough fuel to do the sample, otherwise you’re using fuel as ballast. So it’s really sad news for George, but a mistake in their calculations.
Christian Horner stated.
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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell

Christian Horner claims tire strategy ‘didn’t make the difference’ for Max Verstappen

Christian Horner during the post race interview highlighted Max Verstappen‘s race outcome. He stated that Verstappen having two sets of hard tires instead of mediums didn’t affect his performance. He mentioned that the tire wear was less than expected at Spa, so that the tire management was not an issue. The main problem was that the car simply didn’t have the speed to perform better. Therefore, the 50-year-old believed the tire choices wasn’t the reason behind their low performance.

That didn't make the difference. The tire wear was lower than we expected anyway, but we just didn't have the pace to get more out of it.
Christian Horner stated.
Christian Horner and Max Verstappen
Christian Horner and Max Verstappen (Via: Imago)

Christian Horner mentioned Verstappen finishing at fifth place was the best possible result for the team. He noted that McLaren driver Lando Norris started the race in fourth place but ended up finishing in sixth. On the other side, Max Verstappen who had the penalty to start from 11th ended up fourth. Horner pointed out that these changes in positions show how dynamic the results can be in a race.

P5 was the maximum possible for us, while Lando went from P4 at the start to P6 in the race. We see a lot of different results in that respect.
Christian Horner added.

Certainly, Christian Horner emphasized that Max Verstappen drove exceptionally well, P4 was the best he could’ve achieved. He reckoned if the Dutchman would’ve started anywhere from top 5, the win would’ve been in their hands. Fans were happy by the performance Verstappen managed to pull out despite facing difficulties.

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