Red Bull has conceded that it “underestimated” how impactful dirty air would be with the strategic call that cost Max Verstappen in Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Verstappen endured an eventful outing at the Hungaroring as he was unable to mount a challenge to the McLarens and instead dropped back two spots to come fifth.
The Dutchman was eager to capitalise on opportunities at the start and he separated the two McLaren cars as he used the outside line at Turn 1 to take Lando Norris.
However, Verstappen ventured outside the track to complete the pass and his Red Bull team advised him to hand the spot back with a potential investigation looming.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has disclosed that the team took that decision to avoid being penalised, despite thinking that the pass was acceptable under the rules.
“It was very hard to follow in the dirtier air today and probably more so than we expected,” Horner reflected.
“At the start, he [Max] made a position we felt that it was a racing incident, and three had gone into the corner.
“Under the ‘Let them race mantra’ we thought it looked okay, but as soon as it goes to the stewards, at that point, the feeling is that you’re probably going to get a penalty.
“So that’s why we conceded the place back to Lando, so then you’re really in the dirty air.
Verstappen would end up losing another position later on as Mercedes initiated an undercut on Lap 16 which elevated Lewis Hamilton past the reigning F1 champion.
Horner has revealed that Red Bull opted to not cover that move until Lap 21 as it sensed pitting earlier would have compromised Verstappen’s hopes against McLaren.
Instead, the Briton has contended that Verstappen’s win prospects unravelled when he couldn’t dispatch Hamilton on newer rubber as he ran wide at Turn 2 on Lap 35.
“Lewis, with his two sets of Hard tyres, went [to pit] very early. We were considering going that early, but at that point, you’re racing for third,” Horner explained.
“With the two Hard tyres, he had the ability to shuffle his race plan that early. So we felt go longer with an overlap advantage.
“Actually on the Hard tyre, you can see Max was competitive and strong, compared to the McLarens.
“So he caught Lewis quickly, and then, unfortunately, in the dirty air got stuck as Lewis started to really drop off.
“If he’d have got past Lewis at that point, then we may have been able to have a go at one of the McLarens at the end of the race.”
Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc pitted with 30 laps remaining to ensure that Verstappen would then come back out in fifth place once he boxed nine laps later.
Verstappen managed to utilise his new Mediums to overtake Leclerc with ease, but a late dive on Hamilton’s inside at Turn 1 saw him go airborne as the pair clashed.
The Red Bull driver surrendered a place to Leclerc as his car thudded against the ground and ran him wide, consigning him to bringing home a wounded RB20 in fifth.
With Verstappen incensed with the decisions on the pit wall that cost him a probable podium, Horner has proclaimed that Red Bull should have prioritised clearer air.
“Because of being stuck in the dirty air, both he and Charles pit early again,” he continued.
“So we then go for a nine-lap overlap, and you can see again his pace is very, very strong.
“Catches him quickly, picks off Leclerc, and then I think a racing incident with Lewis is probably the best way to describe it.
“Then we picked up some damage after the car has gone through the air.
“So, yeah, a frustrating race. I think when you look at the race now there’s ifs buts and maybes.
“But I think probably the thing we underestimated was how tricky it was in the dirty air, and that section of the race there that did the most damage for us.”
The current ground effect cars were brought in to improve racing in 2022, but Horner is convinced that the present iterations are now producing increased turbulence.
“Listening to the drivers, especially in the debrief just now, it sounds like we’re getting back towards 2021 – not as bad as 2021,” he warned.
“But as the cars are getting more developed they’re becoming harder to follow so the dirty air is becoming a bigger issue.”
Horner thinks it is too premature to dissect whether the issue is impacting Red Bull more than its rivals as he cited that Lando Norris struggled behind his team-mate.
Asked whether the problem was more relevant to Red Bull, Horner replied: “Difficult to say, we’ll draw a chunk of analysis out of that race. Definitely you could see the middle sector was affected very badly, whoever was the following car, even when Lando dropped behind Oscar [Piastri] you could see his middle sector dropped off in comparison.”
