Both Rosberg and Mercedes claimed he took a “big lift” despite setting a fastest middle sector, which included the yellow flags.

Daniel Ricciardo had to abort his final lap, while teammate Max Verstappen didn’t get to the startline in time to begin his final effort.

“What I need to check is that Rosberg was behind Daniel, and managed to get a purple middle sector,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.

When told Rosberg lifted for the yellows, Horner replied: “With that sort of laptime? That’s down to the stewards to decide.

“It was a shame because Daniel was three and a half tenths up which would have been pretty handy,” he added. “The second row is a great place to be starting both cars, unfortunately Max mistimed it.

“We were telling him ‘come on you need to get on with it’ and I think he was trying to build a gap so he missed it by 0.8s. It was a shame, on his in-lap he was half a second up as well.

“Unfortunately that car going off ruined it for Daniel, but nonetheless the second row is pretty good.”

When asked about Red Bull’s chances against Mercedes in the race, Horner replied: “The long runs of Mercedes were very strong, it’s going to be tough for us to challenge them in the race, but we’ve got a grandstand seat for Turn 1.”

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