Red Bull team boss: "What we see from Max now is something very special"

According to Christian Horner, it is difficult to compare Sebastian Vettel (world titles in 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013) and Max Verstappen (world titles in 2021 & 2022). According to the team boss, the fact that Verstappen has now broken Vettel's record of most wins in a single season does not diminish what the current Aston Martin driver has managed to put down within Red Bull.

"Max and Sebastian are two very different drivers, but they are both phenomenal. What Seb has achieved places him among the best and most successful drivers in our sport," Horner is quoted by Dutch paper De Stentor. "But what we are seeing from Max now is something very special. What he is achieving now deserves a lot of appreciation."

Red Bull Racing managed to win no fewer than 16 of the 20 Grands Prix this season. It is reminiscent of the Mercedes era that began in 2014 and lasted for many years. In those seasons, however, Lewis Hamilton did not manage to cross the line first as often as Verstappen in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Didn't come Verstappen's way

According to Horner, there should therefore be no misunderstanding that there is no cuter achievement than this [winning 14 GPs in a season]. "As an individual driver, yes, we have seen from Verstappen the best performance ever," he said. The 48-year-old top man also reiterated that Verstappen managed to win two sprint races and that his wins were often not even from pole position. According to Horner, Max often had to fight hard.

Six times this year, Verstappen was on pole. Of those, he managed to cash in on five. Only in Austria did someone manage to finish ahead of him, Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. The furthest behind was the reigning world champion in Belgium in 2022. At Spa-Francorchamps, he eventually took victory after all.