Christian Horner has said that Mark Webber's first stint dictated his eventual three-stop strategy during the Japanese Grand Prix.
Making the extra stop arguably cost Webber his first victory of the 2013 season, with two-stopping team-mate Sebastian Vettel racing to his ninth win of the year.
The Aussie pitted for fresh tyres on lap 11 and was called in earlier than expected 14 laps later for his second stop. Webber was confused by the change in strategy, admitting to Sky Sports F1 after the race that the plan after his first trip to the pit lane was still a two-stop strategy.
He questioned their decision and gave the strategy he was put on "100%." However he also felt that he couldn't dictate the strategy himself, as he "didn't have the whole chess match" in front of him during the race.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner revealed the shorter first stint ultimately caused the change in strategy for Webber. He told Sky Sports F1: "The key aspect was obviously the first stint. We went into the race thinking it was going to be marginal for a two-stop but we believed, probably in clear air, we could do that.
"The first stint dictated everything for us: Mark put Grosjean under quite a lot of pressure and went through the tyre phases pretty quickly to the point that he'd run out of tyres by the lap that he pitted on, pretty early in the race, which was too short in our own minds to make a two-stop really work because you'd effectively run out of tyres in that last stint."
He added: "When Mark pitted with ten or 11 laps to go and went on to the soft tyre, obviously he closed on Grosjean pretty quickly, but then came across a bit of traffic and unfortunately he didn't go past Grosjean too quickly. That killed off any chance he had of winning the race. But it was great to see him make the move on Grosjean and absolutely fantastic for the team to get a one-two finish."
Horner also admitted that there is no disappointment at failing to seal either championship in Japan: "I don't think there's any disappointment! We came here to try and win the race today and the championships will take care of themselves. We'll go to India and we'll attack that weekend as we have here. If we score more points than the others we'll win the championship - there's no disappointment at all in any single member of this team!"
When asked if the team were banking on Lotus covering Webber's three-stopper with Grosjean he said: "It was always potentially going to put Mark behind Grosjean if he stuck on a two-stop, but on much fresher tyres and with the pace difference of about a second and a half a lap which is what you need to overtake here.
"It's obviously difficult for Grosjean because which one does he cover? He's got Mark pitting, Sebastian staying out, and they obviously elected to sort of go halfway in between. It panned out perfectly for us."
McLaren confirmed over at the Suzuka circuit that they have successfully poached chief aerodynamicist Peter Prodromou from Red Bull. Horner admitted that the team is in no rush to release him from his current contract though. He said: "Peter is a valued member of the team, he is making a valuable contribution. We have got tremendous strength in team within the team.
"The content of any contract obviously is confidential but the duration of his contract runs for quite a while yet. We're certainly in no rush to release him early and he will be with the team until the end of his existing agreement."
Red Bulls lead driver Sebastian Vettel could take his fourth consecutive world title at the next round of the season in India. He needs a fifth place finish to take the crown. Meanwhile Red Bull Racing are dominating the constructors with a very healthy lead of 148 points.
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The Aussie pitted for fresh tyres on lap 11 and was called in earlier than expected 14 laps later for his second stop. Webber was confused by the change in strategy, admitting to Sky Sports F1 after the race that the plan after his first trip to the pit lane was still a two-stop strategy.
He questioned their decision and gave the strategy he was put on "100%." However he also felt that he couldn't dictate the strategy himself, as he "didn't have the whole chess match" in front of him during the race.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner revealed the shorter first stint ultimately caused the change in strategy for Webber. He told Sky Sports F1: "The key aspect was obviously the first stint. We went into the race thinking it was going to be marginal for a two-stop but we believed, probably in clear air, we could do that.
"The first stint dictated everything for us: Mark put Grosjean under quite a lot of pressure and went through the tyre phases pretty quickly to the point that he'd run out of tyres by the lap that he pitted on, pretty early in the race, which was too short in our own minds to make a two-stop really work because you'd effectively run out of tyres in that last stint."
He added: "When Mark pitted with ten or 11 laps to go and went on to the soft tyre, obviously he closed on Grosjean pretty quickly, but then came across a bit of traffic and unfortunately he didn't go past Grosjean too quickly. That killed off any chance he had of winning the race. But it was great to see him make the move on Grosjean and absolutely fantastic for the team to get a one-two finish."
Horner also admitted that there is no disappointment at failing to seal either championship in Japan: "I don't think there's any disappointment! We came here to try and win the race today and the championships will take care of themselves. We'll go to India and we'll attack that weekend as we have here. If we score more points than the others we'll win the championship - there's no disappointment at all in any single member of this team!"
When asked if the team were banking on Lotus covering Webber's three-stopper with Grosjean he said: "It was always potentially going to put Mark behind Grosjean if he stuck on a two-stop, but on much fresher tyres and with the pace difference of about a second and a half a lap which is what you need to overtake here.
"It's obviously difficult for Grosjean because which one does he cover? He's got Mark pitting, Sebastian staying out, and they obviously elected to sort of go halfway in between. It panned out perfectly for us."
McLaren confirmed over at the Suzuka circuit that they have successfully poached chief aerodynamicist Peter Prodromou from Red Bull. Horner admitted that the team is in no rush to release him from his current contract though. He said: "Peter is a valued member of the team, he is making a valuable contribution. We have got tremendous strength in team within the team.
"The content of any contract obviously is confidential but the duration of his contract runs for quite a while yet. We're certainly in no rush to release him early and he will be with the team until the end of his existing agreement."
Red Bulls lead driver Sebastian Vettel could take his fourth consecutive world title at the next round of the season in India. He needs a fifth place finish to take the crown. Meanwhile Red Bull Racing are dominating the constructors with a very healthy lead of 148 points.
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