F1 News: Christian Horner Calls Out McLaren For 'Complicated' Driver Call In Hungary

Saajan Jogia | Jul 22, 2024

May 5, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Red Bull team principle Christian Horner sits in the F1 Village before the F1 Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner revealed that McLaren made the situation "complicated" for itself after ordering Lando Norris to give the lead back to Oscar Piastri during the final stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

McLaren celebrated a commanding one-two finish at the Hungaroring, having dominated the race from start to finish. Piastri set the pace from the opening laps, pulling ahead with a significant lead. However, during the second round of pit stops, McLaren pitted Norris before Piastri, resulting in the Australian driver losing the top position.

Soon, it was Norris who pulled way ahead of the pack, while Piastri raced in a lonely second spot, ahead of the heated action ensuing between Red Bull's Max Verstappen and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Although McLaren assured Piastri that he would regain his position after the pit stop, it took considerable effort from the team to convince Norris to give back the lead. The whole episode of persuading the British driver to give up his position was a complicated call, as per Horner. Speaking after the Hungarian GP, he told Crash.net:

“They didn’t need to make life that complicated for themselves, they were in a pretty comfortable situation, they chose to pit Lando two laps earlier, which usual practice is, to pit the lead car first, and then they gave themselves a lot of work to do to reset that at the back end of the race.

“So yeah, that’s obviously their business but they perhaps didn’t need to create that problem.”

He added:

“The drivers’ interest versus the team’s interest, there’s always a conflict.”

Interestingly, Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz recalled the "Multi 21" scenario before Horner, which mirrors Red Bull's own version of the infamous McLaren episode, where Sebastian Vettel gave a deaf ear to team orders and overtook his teammate Mark Webber.

He asked Horner: “Nobody mentioned multi-21 today. That was what was going on wasn’t it? Lando was giving it a go. Trying to show he was like Seb… not going to give away.”

Horner, without referencing the Multi 21, said:

“It’s an awkward position. I didn’t understand why they didn’t give Oscar the first pit stop so they put themselves into that position. It was something they discussed pre-race and Lando did what was asked of him.”