Christian Horner believes that Red Bull have learned from their "mistakes" following the team orders controversy involving Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Verstappen refused to let Perez by on the final lap of the race when asked by the team, with the Dutchman stating over the radio: "I gave my reasons and I stand by it." In response, Perez said over his own radio that the incident would show "who he really is" in reference to Verstappen, though later admitted that he regretted his remarks . Horner was quizzed about the situation ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and acknowledged that it had been an "unfortunate situation".
Horner assesses 'root cause' of problem in Brazil
"I think the root cause of the problem was, we'd never envisaged being in a situation [of] being in the final few laps in sixth and seventh place in that Grand Prix," Horner told media, including RacingNews365.com . "As we hadn't envisaged it, we hadn't discussed it before the race, and I think that was a mistake on our part, that we should have thought through – or tried to think through – every single scenario. "And so I think that was a mistake as a team, that we didn't discuss it and come up with a very clear plan. Obviously, it was unfortunate what happened, but it was quickly discussed openly and transparently. "Both drivers were very clear, open and honest with each other and, as a team, we move on and the dynamic between the drivers is absolutely fine. "The objective this weekend is very clear [for] what we want to achieve as a team, something we've never done previously; to achieve a 1-2 in the Drivers' Championship would cap off an unbelievable year for us."
Red Bull 'made mistakes', says Horner
While Horner feels that mistakes were made in Brazil, he is also confident that the team have learned from what happened. "We made some mistakes in in Brazil," he explained. "We've learned from that and, as I say, we move on. We've done some amazing things. These two drivers have performed incredibly well together – they're the reason that we are in the position that we are. "Max's season has been on another planet this year, so we're not going to let the events of a couple of laps in Brazil dictate the year for us, and we come fighting into this race to do the best we can as a team, to get the best result we can."
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