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Red Bull on Schumacher situation: 'Thought it would cost us the win'

25 October 2021 at 14:46
Last update 25 October 2021 at 16:11
  • GPblog.com

Max Verstappen was not happy with Mick Schumacher in the closing stages of the United States Grand Prix. The Haas F1 driver was shown blue flags, but it took a while for the 22-year-old German to make room. Christian Horner was concerned when he saw Verstappen appear to be stuck for a moment.

"We lost a lot of time behind Yuki [Tsunoda] and then Mick Schumacher was quite costly on the last couple of laps. I thought that was going to cost us the victory, because he held up Max through the whole last sector," Horner is quoted by Motorsport.com. Schumacher himself, however, says he 'couldn't disappear from nowhere'.

DRS offers solution for Verstappen

Luckily for Verstappen, a DRS was available on the straight. He was within a second of Schumacher at the detection point. "That gave Max a little bit of breathing room into to Turn 1. But it certainly added to the stress on the pit wall," he explained.

The current world championship leader has driven 136 Grands Prix in his career in the pinnacle of motor sport. Horner is asked if this was Verstappen's best race ever. "I think it's up there. I think he managed the race incredibly well. Obviously we didn't have a great start, but we were able to get the win back."