Horner names chief rival Verstappen: 'He showed strong pace'

Max Verstappen again dominated 'as usual' in the sprint race at the United States Grand Prix. Christian Horner saw his driver drive an impressive race and believes he has every chance of advancing from P6 to the front of the race at the Circuit of the Americas.

Verstappen complained about the handling of his RB19 in the early stages of the race and was briefly under pressure from Lewis Hamilton, but eventually managed to build an impressive lead over the Mercedes driver. But when asked about the problems the Dutchman was referring to and whether that was causing Red Bull any concern, Horner remained nonchalant.

Horner: 'This is just how Max is'

"Well, winning by eight seconds, I think we can live with that," the Red Bull team boss smiled at F1TV. "That's just how Max is. He's always looking for perfection and pushing himself, pushing the team, pushing the car for more."

Horner is certainly not dissatisfied with Sergio Perez's performance either. The Mexican started seventh but managed to come back to fifth. "Yeah, it was a decent recovery and some good strong racing from him as well. He was smart with Oscar [Piastri], the way he got that move done, and obviously then with Carlos as well. I thought he drove a strong race and had good pace as well, so hopefully that'll come into play on Sunday."

Horner on chief rival Verstappen

Despite Verstappen's big lead, Red Bull is certainly taking Mercedes into account in Sunday's race. "They were very strong here last year if you remember, and it was only right at the end of the race that Max was able to pass Lewis. Everybody's still learning for next year, and that includes ourselves, so we're treating every race as a one-off and taking something out of it," said the 49-year-old Briton.

However, he doubts that Mercedes will be Verstappen's main rival at the GP in Austin as well. "I think looking at today, I think looking at Lando [Norris'} pace, on a clear run tomorrow, they look the toughest competitor from what we saw today," Horner concludes.