Christian Horner and Max Verstappen agree over tyre issue in Brazil

Christian Horner and Max Verstappen have agreed that Red Bull’s degradation issues cost them a chance to win the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race. Verstappen looked to have the advantage after passing pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen early on.However, the Dutchman struggled to make his medium tyres work as Mercedes George Russell kept within touching distance. The former Williams man eventually passed, followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and eventually Lewis Hamilton.Speaking after the race, Horner stressed tyre wear was the key issue which plagued the team. He also suggested Red Bull had picked the wrong tyre with Verstappen the only one opting for mediums across the grid.Horner told Sky Sports F1: ‘We took the decision to start on the mediums. If [we] could survive the first 12 laps, the second half of the race would become a bit more comfortable and having survived the first half of the race, we actually ended up on a worse degradation than the sorts.READ MORE: Sky Sports’ cheeky comment to Christian Horner as boycott ends Christian Horner and Max Verstappen agreed Red Bull suffered from degradation in Brazil (Image: Sky Sports F1)’Mercedes had a very quick car today and we couldn’t hold them off.’ He added: ‘I think the soft tyre would’ve been a better tyre for us today but the advantage is that we take that extra set into tomorrow’s race so we gave it up strategically today, hopefully, we’ll get it back tomorrow.’Despite finishing in fourth place, Verstappen will start the race from P3 as Sainz will be hit with a five-place grid penalty ahead of Sunday’s race for installing a new engine. It means the reigning champion will be tasked with chasing down both Mercedes as the Silver Arrows target their first win of the season.After the sprint race, Verstappen also admitted the team had ‘way too much degradation’ and raised concerns for the race on Sunday.DON’T MISSGeorge Russell feared Max Verstappen crash in Brazil GP sprint [INSIGHT]Lewis Hamilton under investigation by FIA after Brazilian GP sprint [COMMENT]Martin Brundle raises doubts about Daniel Ricciardo decision  [ANALYSIS] Max Verstappen eventually dropped down the field (Image: Getty)Verstappen explained: ‘At the time I felt alright, it somehow didn’t work but even on a soft I think I was going to be too slow. Really, we just had way too much degradation here today.”We will analyse it, I am not sure if we can do a lot for tomorrow, but it can’t be worse than today. At the end of the day, when you have so much more degradation than another team, it doesn’t matter what tyre you are on.”I think we just need to try and improve that first and normally the tyre should work.’