"Can I have some new tires as well please" - Red Bull drivers on responding to Charles Leclerc's undercut attempt with soft tires at the 2022 F1 Imola GP

Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez discussed their late pit stops to cover off Charles Leclerc's attempted undercut.

Verstappen claimed he switched to new tires at the end of the race as "it is always nicer" to drive on newer tires. Meanwhile, Perez said he felt more comfortable on his old medium compound tires and was forced into a pit stop by Leclerc and Ferrari.

The Austrian team scored their first 1-2 finish since Malaysia 2016 at the 2022 Imola GP, with Verstappen and Perez showing their dominance at the historic circuit.

Charles Leclerc ran comfortably in third place before deciding to box for soft tires, hoping to steal away the fastest lap point. However, both Red Bull drivers were subsequently called into the pits for a set of brand new soft tires to try and cover off Leclerc and Ferrari's tactics.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen said of his late pitstop:

"I just heard that they were both boxing, so I was like, ‘can I have some new tires as well please?’ But it was already all planned anyway, so I mean if they're boxing anyway I have the chance to do as well, right? Because I was upfront."

"And it's always nicer to drive on newer tires and then the old ones we had. I could have gone to the end but it's just not as nice to go to the end."

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Red Bull's Sergio Perez felt more comfortable on his old medium tires

Sergio Perez preferred to run on his old tires as he felt like he could control his pace well. However, when Charles Leclerc pitted for fresh soft compound tires, the Mexican was forced into stopping to avoid a potential late undercut by the Monegasque driver.

The Red Bull second-place winner said:

"Well for me, I felt it was more comfortable to go to the end on that tire because Charles was under my control. But when he boxed, it was like another race and going through that warm-up phase with those conditions, especially Charles, because I think he had a lap of warm up on his tires.

"So he was, again, the racing was back on and we were flat out with cold tires. I think any of us could have done a mistake".

Leclerc's undercut was partially successful as the driver was almost within DRS range when Perez exited the pitlane.

However, the Monegasque driver's efforts were in vain after he spun out on the exit of the Variante Alta Chicane, managing only a P6 finish despite being en route for a P3 finish.