Nov
Christian Horner has revealed his amazement at Mercedes’ approach for the Mexican Grand Prix, stating that their decision to use certain tyres “cost them the victory.”
Mercedes’ tyre selections for the Mexican Grand Prix, in Christian Horner’s opinion, prevented them from competing for the victory.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull won the race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez ahead of Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Sergio Perez, Hamilton’s teammate.
Mercedes’ chances of winning their first race of the year were crushed because their tyre strategies prevented them from challenging Verstappen.
The Dutchman was able to defeat the Mercedes, which was using a Medium-to-Hard tyre plan, with ease thanks to Red Bull’s Soft-to-Medium tyre approach.
Christian Horner, the team principal, said he didn’t think Mercedes would use the tyres with a tougher compound.
Horner described the plan to the media, saying, “I think we got it right.
“I think, for us, the Soft-Medium [strategy] looked like a quicker race.
“With the Hard [tyre], there’s just not as much grip with the tyre. So we were quite surprised that Mercedes went as conservative as they did, with a Medium-Hard strategy.”
Horner: Two victories were lost due to tyre decisions
Mercedes pursued their first Formula One win of the season in the final races of the 2022 season, having improved their performance following a challenging beginning of the year.
Verstappen overcame a sluggish pit stop to win the race that came before the Mexican Grand Prix, giving Hamilton a small opportunity to win.
When questioned if Mercedes could have triumphed in Mexico using a similar racing approach to Red Bull’s, Horner said he thought the team might have lost up to two wins due to their decision to use the Hard tyres.
“I think we still had the edge, but they would have been a lot closer,” added Horner.
“I think you could hear that their drivers were not very happy about the Hard tyre.
“That’s the second weekend in a row that they’ve put that tyre on and it’s cost them a victory. I was quite surprised at that.”
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F1, F1 2022, Formula 1, George Russell, Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Silver Arrows, Mexico Grands Prix, Mexico GP, Christian Horner, Red Bull
