Horner wants to avoid ‘rework’ for 2019 Mexico F1 match

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Mercedes stunned Red Bull by shutting down the front row of the grid for Sunday’s race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with Valtteri Bottas leading 1-2 in the third quarter.

Hamilton qualified for second place, one place ahead of title rival Verstappen in third, leaving the Dutchman on his back foot heading into the race as he tries to cement the championship lead.

Verstappen sits 12 points behind Hamilton in the standings with five races remaining, with plenty of narration before the weekend surrounding the possibility of another drivers’ clash after crashes at Silverstone and Monza.

Mexico offers drivers one of the longest runs of the season to the Turn 1 braking point, which means the slipstream saved from not starting in the first position can be particularly strong.

Red Bull boss Horner said it was important to avoid being behind another car for too long due to the cooling challenges at altitude, but noted that Turn 1 was a place where accidents can occur.

“You have to be careful here because you can’t go on for too long, because the temperatures will start to get out of control,” Horner said on Sky Sports F1 after qualifying.

“But I think the first chance is in Turn 1. You just have to look at the replay from 2019 here to see that it could get a little exciting there.

“The drag is clearly stronger on that first lap. The grandstand seats are going to be down there. We need to get off to a good start with both drivers, and try to run.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 W10, leads as Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB15, leads wide

Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Pictures

The 2019 race saw Hamilton participate alongside Verstappen in Turn 1 after Sebastian Vettel blocked him from third on the grid. Verstappen pressed Hamilton toward the exit of the corner, only for Hamilton to pin his streak, giving him the inside into the second turn.

Asked how Verstappen is willing to risk in Turn 1 given the title fight, Horner said: “We don’t want a replay, if you look at 2019, Max starts in third, Lewis got very aggressive in Turn 2, then a hole [picked up in a subsequent clash with Bottas] The rest of the race screwed up.

“She should be there at the end, and I still think we have a great chance in this race. It sure is tougher than it looked earlier this morning.”

Horner took confidence in the fact that Verstappen was unlikely to use the soft tire in the race, having passed the second quarter on the media.

“We looked really good on the medium tire all weekend,” Horner said. “We never see the soft tyres again. Max has never been happy with the softness so far this weekend. The hard tyre has been fine for us.

“So the first thing is to master the start and know the formation that leads to the first turn.”

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