Christian Horner confirms Red Bull absence at F1 race

Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner has revealed a key absence for the team at the Japanese Grand Prix which almost cost Max Verstappen his victory.

The Dutchman brilliantly managed to fend off the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to take the win around the Suzuka International Circuit last weekend.

Norris struggled to get within one second of Verstappen throughout the race, meaning he was unable to use the added advantage of DRS.

The closest that Norris managed to get to overtaking Verstappen was at the pit stop, when an unusually slow stop from the Red Bull team meant that Norris and Verstappen were neck and neck coming out of the pits, with Norris having to yield the position after heading onto the grass.

Norris' pit stop was over a second faster than Verstappen's, giving the Brit the opportunity in the first place, and Horner has now explained why Verstappen's stop was so slow.

"After they pitted Oscar first, it was clear that they were going to pit Lando the following lap, so we pitted to cover," Horner told F1TV after the race.

"But this weekend, the two number one mechanics, who are twins, on the car, unfortunately, their dad has not been well, so they've gone back to the UK.

"So, we got the reserve guys on the pit stop, and we had a slightly slower stop than would have been ideal. Thankfully, Norris' stop wasn't stellar either."

Red Bull battle key absence

Horner was referring to Matt and Jon Caller, who are two of Red Bull's most experienced mechanics, and are twin brothers.

The pair have been working in the Red Bull garage since 2017, after Matt Caller had recommended his twin brother having been the first Caller to work there, joining back in 2015.

Matt Caller is the number one mechanic on Verstappen's car, while Jon works on the other side of the garage, but both are involved in Red Bull's world-class pit stop crew, which regularly holds the fastest pit stop time at race weekends.

Horner confirmed that, unfortunately, the pair's father had taken ill, meaning that reserve mechanics had to be called in, which may have explained Verstappen's uncharacteristically slow Japanese GP stop.

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