Horner enjoys Max: "Neither side is giving up without a fight"

While Max Verstappen is fighting a titanic battle on track with current seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton, Christian Horner is also very busy on the road. Politically, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes have been battling it out all season.

One of the greatest sporting rivalries

Horner, after the triple header of Spa, Zandvoort and Monza, indicates in his column on Redbull.com how he sees the title fight: "We’re witnessing one of the great sporting rivalries, not just within Formula 1, but within the sporting world for a generation. It’s intense and the stakes are high. It’s hugely competitive and nothing is being given up without a fight by either side."

Top form

"Since the summer break, Max has been in top form. His pole lap at Spa, in difficult conditions, was phenomenal and gave us the points there. His performance under immense pressure in Holland and all the expectations placed on him was incredible. And at Monza, the way we worked together as a team to secure third place on the grid in qualifying was very impressive, as was Max's drive in sprint qualifying, where he secured important championship points," Horner raved.

The crash

On the crash, Horner says: "It was an awkward shunt, but both drivers were instantly able to confirm they were ok. With Lewis trying to reverse and get back in the race, even the medical car didn’t see the need to deploy. I’m grateful the halo did its job. I still share the same belief today - both played a part in it and it is difficult to apportion blame to one side more than the other. If the FIA wanted to make a statement, they could’ve imposed the same penalty on both drivers but the fault was deemed to be more on Max's side and, because he didn’t finish the race, the only option was to give him a grid penalty, which we accept."