Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has suggested McLaren should have allowed Lando Norris to win the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Norris was in the lead during the final stint after McLaren pitted him first, which put the Briton ahead of Oscar Piastri.
The Briton initially refused to give back the position but after several team radio calls, he let Piastri through with three laps to go as the Australian went on to win his maiden Grand Prix.
Asked by Sky Sports News what he would have done in that situation, Horner said: “Lando is the experienced driver and the number one driver I assume. It’s standard practice to give the lead driver the first stop and could have done that quite easily with Oscar.
“But they gave a two-lap undercut to Lando, so obviously wanted him ahead of Oscar. Having put him ahead, it’s tough on the driver to say ‘we want you to drop behind your team-mate.
“If this championship is lost by seven points at the end of the year, every point counts at the end of the day. Different teams go racing in a different way but Lando is the closest challenger and you have to put your eggs in one basket at some point.”
Verstappen and Lambiase hold clear the air talks
Another controversial story from Hungary was Max Verstappen’s radio outbursts on his way to fifth place.
Verstappen became increasingly frustrated last Sunday at the Hungarian Grand Prix and his communication with Red Bull was a major topic coming into this weekend’s race in Belgium.
The reigning world champion insists that his language to the team is part of his approach and will “say what I want”.
Verstappen and his engineer Gianpiero Lambise held clear the air talks on Thursday at Spa-Francorchamps.
“You talk about it collectively and the strategy did get a bit of a roasting,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.
“What you don’t want is for people to go conservative because of the fear of getting their head bitten off. I think everybody in our team knows Max, we know how he responds to a situation and, honestly, it was water off a duck’s back.
“It’s like ‘ok, let him have his say’. If we could pull the radio out we would have at that point – it’s against the rules to do that – so that’s the way it is.”
Horner came on the radio in the infamous “multi-21” incident at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix when Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders.
However, he didn’t say anything to Verstappen in Hungary as he feels it wouldn’t have helped.
“At that point there is absolutely no point because you’re just going to inflame it,” Horner explained.
“Max is driving his heart out out there, he’s driving with a huge amount of passion, and all you are going to do is inflame it,” said Horner on why he didn’t come on the radio himself.
“So you just let him get it out of his system, he comes down very quickly. Even by the time we got to the airport in the evening he was already totally calm. Every driver is different.
“You listen to Oscar Piastri on the radio and he doesn’t say a word. You listen to Max, you get a different experience.”
Horner: Natural for drivers to vent
Verstappen, who leads Norris by 76 points ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, has always been vocal on the radio throughout his career.
The Dutchman said F1 is unique as the whole world can hear a driver and team’s radio conversations, which Horner also alluded to.
“We know that Max is a very passionate guy and that’s part of what is his make-up that makes him as good as he is,” he said.
“Now, when he gets frustrated then he vents sometimes, we have heard that many times.
“I’m sure if you had a microphone on every Premier League player you’d hear some venting. The problem now with where the sport is there’s a microphone before they get in the car, one in the car, one when they get out the car. Obviously what he was venting about is not nice listening to but it’s a driver that is very passionate about what he does.
“You know it’s a spike with him and then it comes down. GP and him have had a long relationship, they know each other inside out, so we sat down, we discussed on Thursday and, honestly, I think it’s a blip and we move on from that.
“Thursday is ‘ok guys, let’s go through the weekend’ and the best way to deal with any issue is to talk about it, talk it through, and GP and Max did that. Already turned the page, focused on this weekend and try to go into the summer break in the best possible shape.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Belgian GP schedule
Sunday July 28
7:25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday – Belgian GP build-up*
2pm: The BELGIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Belgian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
The Formula 1 action continues this weekend with the final race before F1’s summer break, the Belgian Grand Prix at 2pm on Sunday. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime