Red Bull’s latest slow pit stop not linked to FIA’s rules clarification – Horner

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In the round-up: Sergio Perez’s slow pit stop during the Russian Grand Prix was not a consequence of the recent rules clarification by the FIA, says Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

In brief

Pit error not due to rules tweak – Horner

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Following Red Bull’s slow pit stop for Verstappen in the Italian Grand Prix, Perez lost around six seconds when he made his first pit stop at Sochi last weekend. However Horner denied it was linked to the FIA’s change in pit stop guidance during the summer break.

“We had a very slight delay on the wheel-off,” Horner explained, “and then [with] the clutch, he spun up the rear wheel, which then took more time to re-engage the wheel. So that was frustrating.”

The time loss meant Perez lost more ground than the team expected. “Otherwise he would have been a clear third,” said Horner. “But he got himself back into that position before the rain came.”

Horner insisted the delay was not linked to the rules clarification made in a recent technical directive.

“It wasn’t a TD issue. Unfortunately there was a slight delay in the wheel coming off and the clutch was released whilst he was on the stand and that then just compounded the problem. That’s what cost Sergio.”

Vettel still heads overtaking leaderboard

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, Sochi Autodrom, 2021
Vettel is leading F1’s Overtaking Award standings
Formula 1 has confirmed Sebastian Vettel continues to lead the Overtaking Award standings following the Russian Grand Prix. The new prize was announced during the summer break.

Vettel leads with 95 passes, four more than Aston Martin team mate Lance Stroll. Fernando Alonso is third on 88, followed by Sergio Perez on 83 and Kimi Raikkonen on 78.

Radio fault affected Giovinazzi’s performance

Alfa Romeo’s head of track engineering Xevi Pujolar said Antonio Giovinazzi’s radio problem affected his race “quite a bit” during Sunday’s race.

Giovinazzi was unable to communicate with the team’s pit wall for the majority of the race. This made managing key moments difficult, such as the late rain shower, when he stayed on-track with slick tyres longer than most drivers.

“It was a tricky race partly with a fuel management and then especially towards the end of the race with the weather and all that,” said Pujolar.

“Initially for a few laps he could hear us but we could not hear him. And after a few laps then we lost everything. So it was getting a bit difficult with what we wanted to achieve and affecting his performance mainly from mid to end of the first stint.”

Don’t miss our exclusive interview with Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur in the new edition of the RacingLines column later today on RaceFans

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Comment of the day

Ferrari’s new driver is having an increasingly impressive season:

Sainz is really doing very well. Despite making many mistakes in his learning year, e.g. Baku, he is ahead of Leclerc in the championship after so many races. Certainly much better than what Vettel has done in 2019.
@F1fan-2000

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On this day in motorsport

The memorable sight of title-contenders Mansell and Senna in action at the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix
  • 30 years ago today Nigel Mansell won the Spanish Grand Prix, held at the Circuit de Catalunya for the first time, after memorably going wheel-to-wheel with Ayrton Senna on a damp track

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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9 comments on “Red Bull’s latest slow pit stop not linked to FIA’s rules clarification – Horner”

  1. MKIndyCebu
    29th September 2021, 1:21

    Am i missing the point of the ‘Overtaking Award’…. surely it should be renamed the ‘seasons worst qualifier award’.

    1. Ilanin
      29th September 2021, 10:22

      I believe you are. The point of the overtaking award is to create something else for somebody to sponsor.

    2. Alberto
      29th September 2021, 11:11

      How about only counting the overtakes that is made on drivers who are above in the Championship points. Surely that takes more skill than overtaking Haas 7 times in one race…

    3. Profile Photo

      Qeki (@qeki)
      29th September 2021, 20:34

      I was thinking about “gained the most places from starting position” award but now I feel like it would be as bad as this “overtaking royal” award.

    4. Profile Photo

      F1JohnS (@)
      30th September 2021, 18:33

      I seem to remember most everyone’s biggest complaint about hybrid car era was lack of overtaking, so is it any wonder they’d create this award when we finally get to see more of it?

  2. Profile Photo

    Jere (@jerejj)
    29th September 2021, 7:22

    The planned Vietnamese GP looks more and more like a lost cause for good rather than only temporarily.
    A shame, given all work and time spent on building everything. First COVID, followed by a corruption case.

    COTD: 100%.

    Circuit de Catalunya on the last section is weird because of how long it’s been in early-season.

  3. Profile Photo

    Niefer (@niefer)
    29th September 2021, 8:01

    Ok, we can trace some similarities: the car was a wildcard, there was political power struggle, but I’d say CotD is comparing apples with oranges here.

    I mean, as the senior driver, LEC is currently at the position where VET was back then: behind at one metric, ahead at another, making it look bad regardless.

    Another similar blow, there is this gossip that Binotto prefers to rely on Sainz’s input more than Leclerc’s, which resembles the preferential treatment rookie LEC got after Summer Break back then.

    So, if we are to compare performances by rookies, then SAI is doing just as good as LEC back then – not VET -, whereas this time around, the senior LEC is doing kinda poor (but not really) just as VET (but not really as well).

    Now, what I think is Binotto would prove himself the stupidest of all bosses by undermining another ace prematurely at two tenures in a row.

    1. Coventry Climax
      29th September 2021, 10:01

      Agree with this.
      CotD almost always comes close to some sort of one-liner, it’s hardly ever the more thorough analysis. Shame.
      It actually quite resembles the overtaking award in that respect.

  4. playstation361
    29th September 2021, 16:26

    No backside in terms of rules.

Comments are closed.