Explained: Why Red Bull opted against attacking and disruptive late pit-stop
Max Verstappen has been dethroned by Lando Norris after four years at F1's summit
Red Bull’s Laurent Mekies has explained why his team didn’t try any disruptive tactics to attempt to disrupt McLaren’s race in Abu Dhabi.
Max Verstappen’s lead at Yas Marina was such that, in the closing stages, the potential for a pitstop for fresh tyres that might have allowed the Dutch driver a significant pace advantage emerged, but Red Bull didn’t attempt the tactic.
Laurent Mekies: Late pitstop was ‘not right option’ for Red Bull
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri pitted on Lap 41 to end his length hard tyre stint, having just been overtaken by Verstappen as the Dutch driver had used the medium tyre for his first stint before catching and passing the Australian.
In effect, Verstappen was a pitstop ahead of Piastri after overtaking the McLaren, opening up the possibility of a further stop that could have given the four-time F1 World Champion fresh tyres.
With a pit-stop loss of 21 seconds, Verstappen’s lead on Lap 42 over Piastri was 24 seconds, and it took five laps for that gap to reduce to the point where Piastri would definitely take the lead away from the Red Bull if that option was taken.
With little sign of any race circumstances compromising third-placed Lando Norris, the logic behind a late Red Bull pitstop would have been that it would give Verstappen the chance to control the pace up front and attempt to influence the race behind him as Charles Leclerc was circulating 10 seconds behind the two McLarens in fourth place – the position Verstappen needed Norris to finish in if the Dutch driver was to win the title.
But, despite it being the only strategic option left open to Red Bull as the laps ticked by, the trigger was not pulled as Verstappen kept circulating at the front to take a comfortable victory – a well-earned race victory but, ultimately, not enough to win the world championship as Norris secured third-place to become Champion by just two points.
Speaking after the race, Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies explained the logic behind not trying to disrupt the cars behind.
“It was possible to do it,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com.
“We didn’t feel it was the right option for us.
“I mean, we would have given up quite a large advantage by doing so, and we didn’t think that playing tactics will give us an edge for the situations we were in.
“So we chose to stay out to maximise the advantage we had and to concentrate on winning the race.
“As we said, we can’t control what’s behind us. So, yeah, we did discuss that options, but we stuck to our plan.”
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Laurent Mekies: Red Bull races with respect for the competition
The decision not to attempt any unusual tactics and, instead, hope for fortune to smile upon the team is something of an atypical approach for Red Bull.
Under the previous management regime led by Christian Horner, Red Bull became well-known for being aggressive and disruptive in strategy, with a willingness to make unpopular decisions on and off-track in a bid to secure victory.
This edginess, while effective, didn’t always make Red Bull the most popular team on the grid, and Mekies was asked whether he has introduced a new, cleaner approach to racing.
“I don’t know if you want to call it the edge or not,” he said.
“I think we had a very strong fight, but we had a fair and clean fight.
“It’s the way we go racing. We push everything to the limit, but we certainly respect the competitions.
“But make no mistake, everything is pushed to the limit and sometimes beyond.
“But, when it comes to sporting fairness and respecting the competition, we think we can do both – being at the very limit and being respectful for the competition.
“Sport is a battle between giants, and we feel very strongly in that fight, and we respect our competitors.”
With no tension or hostility between the two rival teams at the season finale, it was in marked contrast to other recent season finales involving Red Bull.
This civility was on clear display when Mekies and McLaren CEO Zak Brown appeared before the media in the FIA Press Conference on Friday in Abu Dhabi, with Brown expressing an expectation of clean and “healthy” racing; it was a stance backed up by Mekies moments later.
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