“Probably something Lewis [Hamilton] hasn’t had throughout his career”– Christian Horner thinks Max Verstappen is a titan 7 time world champion never faced before

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are producing a rivalry of the ages; Christian Horner feels the Dutchman is a titan he never faced.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s rivalry is the fiercest inter-team rivalry in Formula since the start of the turbo-hybrid era. With only six points lead, Verstappen has to defend against the Briton for the next six races.

It is for the first time since Nico Rosberg when Hamilton is being challenged so intensively. Even Sebastian Vettel in Ferrari didn’t give such a hard time to Hamilton.

Validating Verstappen’s intensive challenge, Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner claims Hamilton has got a competitor he never faced before.

“I think, inevitably, there’s always going to be an evolution,” the Red Bull team boss told The Guardian. “Lewis has had an amazing career, and he’s still in fantastic form. He’s still a titan of the sport.

“The fact that Max is able to go toe-to-toe with him is probably something Lewis hasn’t had throughout his career – certainly through the championship years.”

“There’s nothing with this degree of intensity. “There’s obviously a lot at stake for him as he’s going for a record-breaking eighth championship. Max [Verstappen] is going for his first, and he knows he’s got many more years to come.”

Also read: Daniel Ricciardo talks about how Ayrton Senna impacted him in his childhood when he went to watch 3 time world champion live in action

2021 title by Max Verstappen would be the biggest Red Bull achievement

If Red Bull wins this year’s championship, it will be the fifth championship they will win with a driver. With four already in the name of Vettel.

Yet Horner thinks that if the Milton-Keynes-based outfit successfully achieves the title this year, then it will be their biggest achievement. His basic argument is that Mercedes of 2021 is too strong to defeat.

“It will be our biggest achievement,” he said. “If you look at the strength of Mercedes and the dominance they’ve had, it’s clear that nobody’s come near them for years.

“No one has put them under this kind of pressure at this stage of the season. “So it will be an enormous achievement if we pull it off.”

Also read: Sergio Perez claims everything will feel bad in 2022 compared to current F1 cars

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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