Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was left pleased with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez after the Miami Grand Prix, with the duo having battled “fairly” as ordered by the team before the race.
Verstappen claimed his third win of the season at the recent race at the Miami International Autodrome, with the reigning World Champion having brilliantly recovered from ninth on the grid.
The Dutchman’s pace in Miami was simply unmatchable, with the 25-year-old having been blisteringly fast in the opening stages of the race, despite having been on harder tyres than those around him.
Verstappen chose to start the race on the Hard compound, whilst Perez started on the Medium compound from pole position.
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The two-time World Champion breezed through the field and found himself in second behind Perez on Lap 15, before inheriting the race lead after the Mexican pitted.
Interestingly, Perez was unable to catch Verstappen following his pit-stop despite having been on considerably fresher tyres, with the pair having set virtually identical lap times.
It meant that when Verstappen pitted with 12 laps remaining, he emerged back onto the circuit just under two seconds behind Perez and on fresher tyres.
Verstappen ultimately caught his team-mate with ease, before overtaking him into the first corner.
He went on to claim the win and the fastest lap, extending his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 14 points over Perez.
It was an imperious drive by the Dutch driver, who Horner labelled as having been “outstanding” in the opening sector.
“Max was outstanding in that sector,” Horner stated.
Horner was also pleased to see Verstappen and Perez obey team orders, with the duo having been told that they were free to race but under the condition that they do so “fairly”.
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With Perez having been on considerably older tyres, it wasn’t much of a scrap, with Verstappen having simply possessed significantly better speed and grip.
Despite this, Horner was glad that the drivers showed each other “respect”.
“I felt they did that. They raced firmly but fairly, and they gave each other enough space and respect,” Horner said.