Horner Suggests Leclerc Could Have Taken More Inspiration From Perez In Abu Dhabi
F1Thursday, 30 November 2023 at 00:00
Updated at Saturday, 02 December 2023 at 21:32
Red Bull Racing team principal seemed to be a bit puzzled by Charles Leclerc's strategy in the final laps of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The battle for second place in the Constructors' Championship between Ferrari and Mercedes spanned through the whole 2023 season, but the "winner" wasn't decided until the final lap of the season's last race at Yas Marina Circuit.
Three laps before the end of the race, Charles Leclerc was in second position, Sergio Perez in third, and George Russell in fourth.
Perez had a five-second penalty, which would move him into fourth place in case he finished less then five seconds ahead of Russell. To secure second place in the Championship for his team, Leclerc needed Perez to finish in between himself and the Mercedes F1 driver.
The Monegasque decided to wait for the Red Bull driver in order to give him slipstream and DRS that would help Perez escape Russell. However, it was not enough in the end, and Perez finished less than 4 seconds ahead of the Mercedes driver.
Red Bull Racing team principal agreed that Leclerc did the right thing for his team, but he thinks the Ferrari driver could have done more to ensure the five-second gap. He told the media:
"It was a logical thing to do from Ferrari's position. The problem is only half did the job because they let Checo through but then didn't [hold up George]."
In 2021, Perez helped his teammate Max Verstappen by holding up Lewis Hamilton for about six seconds in one lap. Horner suggested Leclerc could have done something similar to Perez and held up Russell to ensure the five-second gap.
"I think as Checo has demonstrated in that sector of the circuit, you can hold up quite a bit of time there. So I think Charles needed to hold off George a little more to get that extra second. But it just means we've got a different neighbor next year."
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