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Horner reveals thinking behind risky Red Bull strategy call

Sergio Perez won his first Monaco Grand Prix but was left defending from Carlos Sainz on heavily grained Medium tyres during the latter stages of the event, putting his race at risk.

Christian Horner has explained why Red Bull opted to put Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen on Medium tyres during the final part of the Monaco Grand Prix. Perez was left nursing his tyres to the chequered flag, putting a race win at risk as Carlos Sainz – on longer-lasting Hard tyres – put the pressure on. However, the Mexican driver was able to hold on, despite a nasty lock-up, as he made history and joined the prestigious list of Monaco winners. "We didn't want to be exposed at the restart, so we believed the Medium would be enough," Horner explained, speaking to Sky Sports F1 . "I think that lock-up by Checo put him under a little bit of pressure, but he managed it beautifully and a great result, I'm so proud of him."

Where the Monaco GP was won for Sergio Perez

Perez's first win of the season came one week on from the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, during which he was asked not to fight teammate Verstappen for the win. It also came with both parties understood to be in contract talks to keep Perez at Red Bull beyond the end of the season. "He's been on fire all weekend and, strategically, I don't think we had the quickest car today, but we got it right we the double pit-stop and it was all about teamwork," added Horner. "It was all about getting the in lap and out lap [right]. Checo nailed his out lap and Max very nearly got him [Sainz] as well. It was a phenomenal team result."

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