Christian Horner Doesn’t Care About Lewis Hamilton Taking Away Fastest Lap as Max Verstappen ‘Isn’t Losing Sleep’ Over Minor Defeat

Max Verstappen put up yet another display of dominance as he won the Belgian GP with a comfortable margin. However, he failed to get the point for the fastest lap after Lewis Hamilton snatched it away at the end, on the race’s final lap. After the race, team principal Christian Horner admitted, while Speaking to Motorsport.com, he doesn’t really care about the one point, and neither does anyone on the team.

No extra pitstop and fastest lap for Verstappen this time ❌

Instead, that extra point when Hamilton’s way. #BelgianGP | #F1 pic.twitter.com/q4TiAXwV23

— The Race (@wearetherace) July 31, 2023

Verstappen started the race from P6 after he was given a five-place grid penalty for taking extra engine components. However, that did not cause the slightest bit of problem for the world champion as by lap 17; he took the lead of the race. There was no catching him after that, as he pulled away to create a comfortable gap with Perez in P2.

However, just winning the race has never satisfied Verstappen, as was evident during the Austrian GP when the Dutchman pitted from the lead to put on new tires. This allowed him to attempt the fastest lap and gain one extra point.

Max Verstappen, leading by 24 seconds with two laps to go, pits for soft tires in order to attempt to take home fastest lap on the final lap.

And he did.

This isn’t arrogance. It’s being a racer with confidence in himself, his equipment and his team. pic.twitter.com/cwkYPEpmfP

— Vincenzo Landino (@vincenzolandino) July 3, 2023

Max Verstappen had his suggestion rejected by Red Bull

Verstappen couldn’t do the same in Belgium, with Hamilton taking away the point for the fastest lap instead. However, this does not bother Horner much, who believes that one should not be too greedy.

Horner said, “We didn’t want to get too greedy because we won the sprint race yesterday, a 1-2 finish today,” He further explained, “To give away one point, I don’t think anybody will lose too much sleep over it tonight.”

Christian Horner regarding the fastest lap:

“We didn‘t want to be too greedy. Nobody gets sleepless nights because of one point.”

“I asked GP if Max was trying to create a pit stop gap. But he assured me that Max was not pushing. All the values were in the green.”#AMuS #F1 pic.twitter.com/VC6VByBrEA

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 31, 2023

However, it would be a mistake to think that Verstappen did not want to go for the fastest lap. Towards the end of the race, when he had created a comfortable distance from Perez, Verstappen came on his radio and asked his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, if he could make another pitstop as it would be good practice for the pit crew. However, his suggestion was instantly rejected.

Verstappen’s antics over the radio

This was not the first time that Verstappen and GP had an acrimonious exchange over the radio. Things had started to heat up from Qualifying itself as Verstappen was clearly not happy with the Red Bull strategy to put him out on the track where they did.

Max Verstappen’s season summed up in a radio message 😅 pic.twitter.com/GObqlQX44L

— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 30, 2023

Fast-forward to the race, and by the time Verstappen had closed up on Perez, who was provisionally on the lead, GP told him over the radio to use his head. Verstappen replied if both drivers were supposed to do that, to which GP said,  “Max, please just follow my instruction. Thank you.”

After the race, during the press conference, Verstappen explained that he had a very important relationship with GP, and therefore, these exchanges were just part of the game. He also joked that he brought up the topic of pitting again to make his pit crew a bit nervous. Overall, it is evident that Verstappen is really enjoying the dominance and doesn’t want to settle for anything less than perfection.