Christian Horner says Red Bull juggled the potential "risk vs reward" when deciding whether to pit Max Verstappen in the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint. Once the Sprint at Spa got underway, teams were faced with the decision of whether to pit their drivers for Intermediate tyres immediately or complete one racing lap on the full Wets to avoid a potential delay in the pit-box as others filtered past. In the end, Verstappen and Red Bull elected to stay out, which led to Oscar Piastri undercutting the World Champion, but Verstappen still won after roaring past on the Safety Car restart.
Horner's juggling act
"We were looking at the risk vs reward and for the risk that was involved, it seemed to play out," Horner told Sky Sports F1. "We took the start and had the confidence we should good pace, but of course you never know. "Max could quite clearly see that Oscar was using the tyres quite hard early on and then it made it easier for him to convert the win. "The significant challenge in deciding when to take the pitstop is obviously the privilege of being first in the pit-lane means that you have the whole group potentially coming in behind you. "That is why we thought it was safer [to not pit Verstappen] and to take the start."
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