F1 Azerbaijan GP: “Good that he left his crash helmet,” Christian Horner mocks George Russell after the dramatic confrontation with Max Verstappen
Christian Horner admitted that the collision between Max Verstappen and George Russell was a result of the tight Baku street circuit.
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Christian Horner, Max Verstappen and George Russell
The incident between Max Verstappen and George Russell marked the Azerbaijan GP Sprint. Russell inflicted damage on Verstappen’s car as he tried to overtake the Red Bull. After the Sprint, an angry Max confronted the British driver and even called George a “d**khead.” Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner expressed his views on this clash.
Horner believed that Verstappen was unhappy after the incident. Subsequently, the 49-year-old joked about the Dutchman punching Russell if not for the British driver’s crash helmet. Christian said, “He was understandably annoyed with that and voiced his opinion to George. It was probably good that he [George] left his crash helmet.”
The Red Bull boss admitted that Max Verstappen‘s behavior was understandable as the 25-year-old suffered damage that ruined his chances in the race. Horner continued, “You can understand that. He is a competitive driver, and when you get damage to your car, you will be disappointed.”
The 49-year-old looked at the replay of the collision and described the racing between the two drivers. For Christian Horner, the battle between Verstappen and Russell was aggressive racing till Turn 2. He explained, “Turn 1 i can live with Turn 2 was hard racing between two hard racers. For me what felt but over the top was turn 3.”
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Christian went into the details of the overtaking move by George Russell and mentioned how the British driver could not give space to Verstappen due to the tight circuit. He stated, “But it is all getting a little bit close and comfortable there. That is okay so far and I think actually there’s a contact there you see. George is trying to leave him enough space but it’s a very tight corner.”
The Red Bull Team Principal cited this move to have caused damage to Max Verstappen’s car. Horner admitted, “I think that’s where the damage to the side pod was done. For me, it was what happened at the next corner. that I think George just runs it too far into the wall there so yeah.”
Lastly, the 49-year-old was disappointed with the result as Max was forced to race with a damaged car that could have been almost three-quarters of a second slower. He concluded, “Unfortunately, the result of it was that we ended up with a lot of bodywork damage a big hole in the sidepod that caused him quite a bit of performance. It’s difficult to quantify, but it’s gotta be three-quarters a second a lap at least.”
Thus, it seems that Christian Horner is not bothered by Max Verstappen’s aggression after the Sprint. The 49-year-old took a rather diplomatic stance on the incident and acknowledged the lack of space available to both drivers. The Red Bull team boss, must have had a big conversation with his driver after the sprint to cool down the two-time world champion.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2439 Articles Published)