Red Bull geared winning strategy around goal of 1,000 laps led for Verstappen

Red Bull’s strategy in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was tailored to give Max Verstappen the best chance of hitting the milestone of 1,000 laps led this season.

Verstappen held off Charles Leclerc from pole position in the opening laps and led the first stint, but the team delayed his second pit stop in the middle part of the race. Verstappen says his strategy took into account the fact he could hit four figures in terms of laps led, a record he achieved with three laps remaining.

“Well, I knew it was on the cards going into the race, and also from the engineering side with the strategy, we wanted to try and plan it in a way that wouldn’t pit too early, so just wait for others to pit,” Verstappen said. “Of course, to try and achieve that was maybe not always the fastest strategy, but I wanted to stay in the lead to get the laps in.”

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Leclerc could have prevented Verstappen hitting that target had he managed to make a number of overtaking moves stick on the opening lap, and the Dutchman says he relished the battle with the Ferrari driver at the start.

“The first lap, you cannot take it easy. It was good, I think -- he raced well. I didn’t expect Charles to go on the left into Turn 6 but it was a good move. But I think at the same time, Charles also had to think about the [constructors'] championship for the team. So yeah it was good, I enjoyed that.

“The first stint, I didn’t really know what to expect because I didn’t do a long run [in practice]," he admitted. "I probably took it a bit too easy in the beginning, but I guess that was better than trying to push ahead and destroy the tires. So, took a few laps. But then I think also the medium was not as good as expected, so then we had to pit, because I saw everyone around me also pitting.

“On the hard tires, everything felt a bit more normal, a bit more easy to manage with the temperatures, and basically I could extend my lead lap after lap. And yeah, it was pretty straightforward. I think from not having done a long run, the car felt quite decent out there.”