Horner: Congratulations Ferrari they had the quicker car

The Orange Army 'owned' Red Bull Ring on a weekend with 300,000 people in attendance, 105,000 on race day, organisers estimating almost half of them trekking from Holland to watch their F1 World Champion.

On Saturday, Verstappen did not disappoint, winning the Sprint Race from pole position and setting himself as favourite to win. But the script changed as the Ferrari had formidable race pace.

What transpired was a game of cat-and-mouse with Leclerc having to pass Verstappen more than once, with Carlos Sainz stalking until his engine expired; the multiple overtakes for the lead because LEC-VER were out of sync with pitstops for most of the race.

In the end, Leclerc had more firepower than Verstappen for the 71 laps.

Horner acknowledged after the race: "Very important points and congratulations to Ferrari they had a quicker car throughout the majority of the race. Max was coming back at the end there but our tyre deg was higher from halfway through the first stint and it was hard to combat that.

"Ferrari just seemed lighter on the tyres and obviously they had a pace advantage and that gives you more strategic options," explained the Red Bull team principal.

An engine blowout on the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz denied the Reds a sure one-two as the Spaniard's afternoon ended just as he was mounting a serious attack on Max for second place, with Leclerc well in control at that stage.

Horner acknowledged his former driver's misfortune: "It is unlucky for them today with Carlos but our pace at the end of the race, we still have the fastest lap.

"We didn't have the range we had [in the Sprint Race] and that is something we need to understand. Over the two races we have only given away five points with Max so it is not too bad."

It was a bleak day for Sergio Perez in the sister car. In retrospect, a driver of his calibre should have been more patient at that point of the race despite Mercedes' George Russell deemed guilty for what was a 50/50 incident, very early in the race.

That Perez thought it wise to make the move so early, on a car that was clearly slower than the RB18 and he would have gobbled up with ease once the adrenalin dipped and the real performance unleashed. If there is a lesson a veteran can learn from that avoidable incident, is be patient.

Horner said: "We are hugely disappointed with Checo. I don't think Mercedes like our cars going around the outside of Turn 4. We will bounce back in France," declared Horner, who will be happy with the scores at the midway point of this season.

Red Bull, on 359 points, lead the 2022 F1 Constructors' Championship by 56 points over Ferrari after 11 rounds. In the Drivers' standings, Verstappen tops the table on 208 points, ahead of Leclerc on 170, Perez on 151 and Sainz on 133.