Red Bull boss, Christian Horner has hit out at what he describes as Mercedes "defeatist" strategy in Monaco.

The Briton was referring to the German team's decision to have George Russell maintain a pace that would allow the leading group of four drivers - Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz and Norris - to pull away, only to have the Briton speed up in the final stages of the afternoon.

Behind the leading four, Russell led Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, with Yuki Tsunoda in eighth but falling further and further back over the course of the afternoon.

While the leading group took the restart on hards, Russell, Verstappen and Hamilton were on mediums which were never going to go the distance. Nonetheless, Russell was ordered to maintain a pace that might allow his tyres to last the afternoon, much to the frustration of Verstappen, as little by little the leading group pulled away.

Hamilton pitted on Lap 51 as Mercedes sought to undercut the Red Bull, but forgot to tell him to push on his out lap meaning that when Verstappen pitted a lap later he maintained his position. Indeed, he was now comfortably ahead of Hamilton and hard on the heels of Russell.

Russell however continued with the tyres he'd started the race on and as it became clear that they would go the distance he subsequently upped his pace accordingly.

Horner believes Mercedes took a cynical, defeatist approach, and should have had Russell put more pressure on the leaders in the opening phase of the race.

"I didn't really understand Mercedes' race," he told reporters, "it was a hugely conservative race by George, to give up so much time and then go so fast at the end of the race.

"It didn't really make a lot of sense, but I don't think it would've changed, they weren't going to overtake anybody, it was just a very defeatist race to try and defend fifth."

Hamilton went on to post the fastest lap of the race (1:14.165) on the 63rd lap of the 78 lap race, while 5 laps earlier Verstappen posted a 1:14.569.

Russell's best lap, a 1:15.162, came 5 laps from the end.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by flyinglap, 28/05/2024 19:25

"I fully agree with Horner. And there’s more to it. By instead opting to pit Russell from fifth place, Mercedes would have triggered any of the first four cars to pit and therefore all four of them to pit. That would certainly have created commotion and possibly opportunity for Verstappen, Hamilton and indeed Russell, eventually. This option was plainly obvious during the race (although no commentator mentioned it), so for Mercedes not to have implemented it is quite puzzling to say the least."

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2. Posted by CL, 28/05/2024 19:13

"Horner does remind me of Alan Partridge sometimes, shouting “Toto, Toto, TOTO!!!” in the car park."

Horner hits out at Mercedes "defeatist" Monaco strategy

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