Horner saw Verstappen practising the first corner braking point

Christian Horner enjoyed the performance of Max Verstappen. According to the Red Bull Racing team boss it was no big surprise that Max could brake so deep at the first corner, because he had already practiced it.

Verstappen won the Mexican Grand Prix mainly because of his braking action in the first corner. On the outside, he got the space from Valtteri Bottas to brake deeply, but the Dutchman did it on the edge. Horner thought for a moment that his driver was going to slide off, but he knew Max had been practicing this.

Red Bull as a target to the first corner

"Today has been a massive day. I can only just hear you after all of that. A fantastic drive from Max. The most important part was the start and he nailed the start and found some space which I was surprised that they gave him the room. Valtteri was very fair and I thought Max had missed his braking point. He was soo late on the brakes at turn 1 and made it stuck and from there controlled the race. It was straightforward for him. On the reconnaissance lap he braked at that point," the Briton told Sky Sports.

"I don't think we expected this win after Saturday to be honest. Qualifying was a bit of a surprise and it felt like we underperformed. In hindsight it was a bit of a blessing because if we had been on the front row we would have been a target on the approach to Turn 1," Horner concludes.