Christian Horner doesn’t fall for McLaren’s bluff: “It didn’t make sense to us”. Christian Horner explains why Red Bull ignored McLaren's fake pit call during the Japanese Grand Prix.

The ‘fake’ call from the pit wall
In today’s Formula 1, with thousands of cameras and microphones watching and listening to the race from every angle, radio communications between the pit wall and the driver can also be used as a form of ‘bait’. It’s not uncommon for a message to be sent from the box to the driver on track with the intention of misleading a rival team, especially in terms of strategy.

That’s what McLaren tried to do during the Japanese GP, attempting to trick Red Bull and Max Verstappen by suggesting a ‘fake’ strategy to Lando Norris. On lap 18, Williams Joseph, the British driver’s race engineer, called car #4 into the pit lane: “Box to overtake Max Verstappen, box to overtake Max Verstappen. Please confirm.” However, right after the confirmation came a change of plan: “Stay out, stay out.”

Red Bull didn’t fall for it
The move was clearly a bluff by the team, hoping to lure the world champion into an early pit stop. After the race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner criticized the rivals’ move, suggesting it was a plan with little chance of success.

“It was clear that, as we approached the pit stops, McLaren had decided to pit Oscar first,” Christian Horner explained to reporters at Suzuka. “But before that, they tried a bluff with Lando, which made no sense to us because he would’ve come out in traffic. So we stuck to our plan and didn’t react to the move.” A wise decision that contributed to Max Verstappen’s crucial win at Suzuka.