“We got Tsunoded” – Horner angry at the AlphaTauri driver

Unsurprisingly, Christian Horner was not really delighted with the scenario of Q3 in Mexico, in particular this final attempt which saw Sergio Pérez veer wide after being surprised by theAlpha Tauri de tsunoda in slow motion and off-path in front of him.

The Mexican's exit from the track had the consequence of ruining the lap of his teammate and current leader of the world championship. Max Verstappen, who followed him closely to take advantage of his aspiration.

The Dutchman will have to settle for 3rd place on the grid for the Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday, one place ahead of Pérez.

« We got Tsunoded, cursed Horner at the microphone of Sky Sports F1 after the qualifications using a neologism. Our two drivers were on their last lap, Max was 2/10th ahead, Checo a little less than 2/10th.

I don't know what he (Tsunoda, Editor’s note) was going around the corner at such a slow pace. It's disappointing because both of our drivers suffered. They are both quite annoyed.

But we are still in 2nd row so we still have our chances for the race ».

While we saw Red Bull comfortably on pole, not to say locking the 1st row, Mercedes appeared out of nowhere to outsmart Taurus in the money time. A situation that didn't surprise Horner that much in the end.

« They are very very fast, added the British manager, referring to his direct rivals. We could see it yesterday. They rectified the situation and corrected the problems they had with their engine.

I also think that we performed below our level in Q3. It's still very, very tight. And it will be again tomorrow in the race where they will have a good top speed ».

Horner's remarks towards Tsunoda seem harsh because the Japanese, condemned to start at the back of the grid for illegal engine change, did a great job to climb back into Q3 and help his teammate Pierre Gasly to hang on the 5th beat.

He then moved widely aside to let the Red Bulls pass who were arriving at full speed. “ I don't see what more I could have done », pleaded the Japanese driver after the session.

Rather than blaming a young driver in his field, perhaps this last phase of qualifying should have been better managed by the Milton Keynes team (United Kingdom)…