Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Red Bull takes steps to prevent future pit blunders after Monaco GP

The Red Bull Formula 1 team has put preventative measures in place to ensure there is no repeat of the pitstop blunder that cost Daniel Ricciardo Monaco Grand Prix victory

Team principal Christian Horner has confirmed a thorough analysis has unfolded in response to a defeat that left all within Red Bull "thoroughly deflated".

Post-race, Horner claimed a misunderstanding triggered by the unusual garage arrangements in Monaco was the root cause behind Ricciardo arriving to find no tyres ready for him.

GARY ANDERSON: There's no excuse for Red Bull's pit error

The delay in finding the requested super-soft rubber resulted in Ricciardo emerging just behind Lewis Hamilton back on track and having to settle for the runner-up spot.

Explaining the investigation that has followed, Horner said: "Having been so close to a Monaco victory, to have lost it in a pitlane miscommunication was absolutely gutting.

"Inevitably there's been a huge amount of analysis into what happened, why it happened and also into preventative measures to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

"With all such things there is never simply one thing that stands out as a root cause.

"It was the culmination of a number factors that came into play during the race - Max's [Verstappen] stop, an aborted stop, a change of tyre compound.

"All of those things contributed to a scenario where ultimately the tyres that were believed to be available were not within the garage, but were in an area that was quite difficult to access and that, of course, led to the tyres not being available to Daniel at the point at which he stopped."

Horner is clear no blame has been apportioned to any member of the team, but he hopes a deeper understanding has emerged to avoid such an incident again.

"Yes, it was hugely frustrating, but afterwards it was never going to be a finger-pointing exercise," he added.

"As I said after the race, we win and we lose together as a team.

"It's a question of understanding what went wrong, working as a team to solve the issue and then taking steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.

"In competitive sport you are always pushing right to the edge and that's what happened in Monaco.

"Now we simply need to make sure that robust procedures are put in place to cover any given scenario."

Horner is hopeful a "totally gutted" Ricciardo can now focus on the forthcoming races, and not dwell on what might have been.

"You can't turn the clock back, but you can address what's coming," said Horner.

"He's third in the championship, he's heading to a venue [in Canada] that holds some fantastic memories for him [with his win in 2014] and hopefully we can again give him a competitive car there."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Ferrari puts Raikkonen's poor Monaco GP down to dislike of track
Next article How Mercedes pulled off an 'impossible' tyre strategy in Monaco GP

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe