Christian Horner: “Pierre is emerging from this delicate period”

Certainly Pierre Gasly did not see the finish of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, victim of a transmission problem on his RB14 – Honda, thus putting an end to a weekend that the Frenchman himself described as complicated, and marked by several penalties.

Despite this bleak picture, Christian hornerResponsible for Red Bull Racing, sees in the unfinished performance of its pilot the beginning of an exit from the tunnel. “There is no result on paper, recognizes Horner. Pierre was fast in Q1 on Saturday. He delivered a good performance in the race. He should have finished 6th on a regular basis, all starting from the pit lane so it would have been a very good result.

His pace was very encouraging. He has a lot of positives to take away. We could see from free practice that he was much more comfortable with the car, the confidence stored in China translated into Baku as well. He knows he delivered a much stronger weekend.

He is coming out of this delicate period. He gets a lot of support. He has a great engineering team around him. He knows that we believe in him. We know he has the talent to succeed. It just takes him a little time. And obviously he finds himself facing a huge barometer right next to it, one of the very best on the plateau. »

Penalties explained

Christian Horner also discusses the starting penalties from the pit lane that were inflicted on the Frenchman throughout the weekend. From Friday in free practice, a first penalty was addressed to Gasly for not having stopped at the weigh-in.

“The driver must see the light which indicates to him that he must go to the weigh-in and there is a reminder. We were about to make a double pit stop for practice, we told him to hurry up. He had a moment of oversteer at the pit entrance and did not see the light.

The team is focused on pit stop training. We had a meeting with all the teams and Ross Brawn the day before the race and we all agreed that we need to review the Friday penalties which have an influence on the rest of the weekend. It was too severe for the mistake committed. »

On the fuel flow incident, from which the other two sanctions resulted, Horner highlights one of the particular characteristics of the Baku route. “The flow meter fluctuates a little sometimes. He took a big drag behind a Racing Point. He found himself at the breaker.

The resonance was such that it oscillated at the authorized limit of 0,02g. This brings nothing in terms of performance but the FIA ​​applies tolerance 0. We changed the flow meter code, which is also the reason why it took another penalty because it was a change under the regime of closed park. »

Discover the full report and analysis of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Baku, in AUTO issue 2214hebdo, available this evening in digital version and this Thursday on newsstands.