Christian Horner blames the ‘wind’ for Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc’s disastrous Miami GP qualifiers
Windy weather affects the Miami GP qaulifiers
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Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc
Red Bull Principle Christian Horner blames the constant gusts of wind during qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. According to him, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fell victim to the Miami winds, which could ring alarm bells for Sunday. Although the weather throughout the qualifiers remained dry, on race day, things might change. The forecasters have predicted that the track might see some drizzle.
The wind had picked up midway through the qualifiers, making it hard for the racers to keep their cars steady. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso said that he couldn’t understeer properly. The Spaniard will start the race in second place on the podium, behind Sergio Perez.
The Mexican Red Bull driver had luck as he got the pole due to a red flag called due to Charles Leclerc‘s crash. Verstappen will start from the 9th grid on race day as he did not finish his opening effort in Q3. On top of that, his car had slid wide through the 5, 6, 7, and 8th turns during the run. On the other hand, Le Clerc crashed into a complex corner where, according to him, he had done the same during practice. This triggered a red flag with one minute and thirty-six seconds left on the clock to finish the qualifiers.
Horner, while praising Perez’s tenacity during the windy qualifiers, also pointed out that last year’s championship rivals were struggling with the wind during the race. He said, “They were all struggling; the wind was getting up, and whether that was what caught Max and Charles out, I don’t know. But it was getting tricky; he [Perez] navigated a good lap and got the pole which was well deserved,”.
Christian Horner is frustrated with the qualifying result
The Red Bull chief was happy for Serio Perez after the Miami pole, but he is frustrated as he knows if Max Verstappen had finished the final lap, it would have been a Red Bull 1-2 at front-row.
“That is the difficulty of not getting a lap in. Checo did that and it was a great first lap, so delighted with the pole, just frustrated not to have both the cars up there. Max with a lot to do.”
It wasn’t a great outing for Alpine riders as well; both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon only managed the fifth and eighth spots on the podium. The surprise package of the qualifying round was Hass racer Kevin Magnussen, who finished in the fourth spot behind Sainz.
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Ishan Misra
(3051 Articles Published)