Red Bull has a reputation for being one of the fastest teams on the grid during pit stops, but at the Austrian Grand Prix they suffered a problem which led to Max Verstappen’s lead being under threat.
Verstappen was pitting for the final time on Lap 51 when the left rear wheel was slow coming off his car, causing him to spend six seconds in the pit box before being released.
His total pit stop time was 25.8 seconds, four seconds slower than his earlier stop on Lap 23 and 3.9 seconds slower than Lando Norris. It meant that his six-second gap to Norris was cut to two seconds when they emerged, enabling Norris to get close in a fight for the lead of the race.
Although Verstappen put up a stern defence against his main on-track rival, Norris tried a move around the outside of Turn 3. The Dutchman initially went to the middle of the track but drifted back to the outside line, causing contact between the pair.
The damage inflicted in the crash was enough to force Norris to retire, while Verstappen had to pit for a third time to change his punctured left rear.
Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, explained why the pit stop for Verstappen took so long when speaking to AMuS after the race.
Christian Horner explains poor pit stop which led to Lando Norris battle
The time lost in the pit lane was key to Verstappen being able to fend off Norris in the last 20 laps of the race.
Although the McLaren driver had the pace advantage on a new set of medium tyres versus Verstappen’s old mediums, it put both of them in the same traffic which helped Norris close the gap to within a second on Verstappen.
When asked about the time loss in the pit lane, Horner said: “We lost around 4 seconds there.” According to AMuS, the time loss was down to a new mechanic in the team put in that position.
Verstappen also contributed to the time loss when he braked too late during the crucial tyre warm-up phase immediately after he came out of the pits at Turn 5, causing him to lock up and lose more time to Norris.
Max Verstappen increases championship lead
Even with the botched second pit stop, collision on track, and third pit stop, Verstappen still finished the race in fifth place and secured the extra point for the fastest lap of the race.
With Norris’ retirement, he extended his championship lead by another 11 points, with him now leading by 81 points from Norris.
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Former F1 driver Damon Hill felt Verstappen was wholly at fault for the move, while Horner believed his driver was not in the wrong and branded it a racing incident.
Even though Verstappen congratulated Norris when he took his first victory in Miami, the clash will have likely soured relationships between the pair.
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