Red Bull downplayed the apparent delaying tactics used by Lewis Hamilton during Q3 in qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
With tensions still high between the top two teams after Silverstone, the Briton appeared to intentionally slow down both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez on the out lap for the final flying lap.
For Hamilton, he had nothing to lose as he already had pole position in his pocket, while the Dutchman was down in third, where he would ultimately finish.
“Lewis has got a hell of a lap in the bank, and then obviously he’s just backing things up, up, up, and he doesn’t want to give obviously our cars a clean run,” team boss Christian Horner said.
“But it’s his right to do that. He’s got the track position. We haven’t got a major issue. It’s all about tomorrow now.”
Cat and mouse against the clock in Q3 ⏳#HungarianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/oUGnfnYiBZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 31, 2021
Asked if he would have expected Verstappen to do the same had they been in front, Horner replied: “I think we’d have probably focused more on the preparation of our tyre because you can see his (Hamilton’s) lap time was nowhere near his qualifying time.
“He was obviously more interested in what was going on behind. But that’s part of the game.”
Perez was most impacted by the slow pace as he failed to cross the start/finish line in time to begin his flying lap, and would only just hold onto P4, a result that could very easily have been P8.
“I think I had a good amount of time left in the car,” the Mexican, who has struggled all weekend relative to the top three, commented.
“We did some adjustments, and here is a place where if you get one corner right, there’s just plenty of lap time in it because there’s so many corners.
“It’s a big shame. In the end, we have a good starting position for tomorrow but yeah, we knew Mercedes was going to be very strong.
“So I really hope tomorrow we are able to put a lot of pressure onto them.”
Also Read:
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- Mercedes claims Red Bull attempted to ‘tarnish’ Hamilton’s ‘good name’
As for whether Hamilton’s actions were intentionally aimed at hurting Red Bull, the Briton was quick to deny it, indicating it was simply a matter of tyre preparation in the extremely high temperatures.
“I wasn’t playing any tactics,” he said. “I don’t need to play no tactics, man. I know what I’m doing in the car and it’s fast enough, we don’t need to add tactics.
“Everyone was doing a slow out-lap. It was no different, really, to any other lap. Each time we’re going out we’re trying to prepare the tyres and keep them cooler because they get so hot throughout the lap.
“Everyone was going slow. Did you not watch everybody else? I don’t understand. Do you think I could’ve gone quicker and then been just closer to Valtteri?
“Those that are making the comments really don’t clearly know anything about the job that we’re doing here, which is probably why they’re not driving here.”
Mercedes did later confirm that Hamilton’s out-lap was not his slowest of qualifying, although it wasn’t his fastest either…
Lewis’ final Q3 outlap was faster than his previous outlap, and middle of the range overall through quali. He did a couple quicker and a couple slower.
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 31, 2021