Horner praises Red Bull F1 team spirit after “massive” Perez repair job

Perez crashed on his way to the grid on the exit of Les Combes ahead of the initial race start, damaging the front end and suspension of his car. 

After a couple of formation laps behind the Safety Car, the race was red-flagged due to worsening conditions.

The stoppage allowed Red Bull to repair Perez’s car and send him back into the race, should it restart, but there was some confusion about whether the Mexican was permitted to rejoin the grand prix after requiring outside assistance to return to the pit lane following his shunt.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Horner said: “It’s a massive job that, because it’s both sides of the suspension, it’s the steering rack. But you could see the guys from Max’s car getting stuck in and helping. It was a true team effort. 

“It was much bigger than the accident Max had in Hungary last year and because the race hadn’t officially started, that’s why we felt there was a very strong case to start the race from the pitlane. That’s what he did, even though the race didn’t get started. Very rewarding to see the hard work pay off.”

Perez believes his crash at Les Combes ‘could have happened to anyone’ given how tricky the conditions were.

“The conditions were extremely hard, and with these wet tyres, things are very, very tricky, very slippery,” Perez added “It was my mistake, but it could well have happened to anyone out there.

“My mistake was very costly, so in the end, we lost a couple of points there with my crash. But I have to say, amazing job from my boys. They managed to turn the car around in a couple of minutes, and that was very impressive. It just shows the spirit that Red Bull Racing has and that’s very nice to see.”