Horner: “We beat Mercedes consistently! »

Ricciardo who climbs onto the podium while Verstappen seemed best placed. What happened ?

When we saw Pérez's pace on super-softs and taking into account the traffic approaching and the delayed cars arriving, we thought it was the best time to bring him in. Unfortunately, the stop was not perfect and Max lost a handful of seconds which meant that Bottas remained in front. Conversely, the fact that Mercedes focusing on his race opened up an opportunity for Daniel (Ricciardo). With a clear trajectory in front of him, he was able to set incredible times and pass Bottas. The objective was to pass Bottas with both drivers; which we didn't manage to do but 25 points and a podium is a great performance.

Did you understand Max's frustration on the radio?

Of course. When you are in the car and find yourself with your teammate in front while he was behind, you can be vindictive. On the other hand, once the circumstances are explained, once the way things happened is understood, everything returns to normal.

Did you think such a result was possible?

No, not thanks to our performance alone at least. Today we beat Mercedes consistently and we didn't benefit from any retirements to be there. We know that Mercedes is still a little ahead and that the nature of the circuit has helped us but it is nonetheless true that we understand the car better, that we develop it better and that we manage to extract more performance. On the other hand, I am more worried about Montreal, Baku and Spielberg. They are going to be the biggest challenges on the calendar with Monza. If we manage to do well during these three dates, what is in the pipeline should allow us to have a much more solid second half season.