Christian Horner Disregards Max Verstappen’s Beliefs to Put Him in the Same League as Lewis Hamilton

There has been no stopping Max Verstappen since that night in Abu Dhabi in 2021. This season, he will be bagging his 3rd drivers’ championship with 13 wins of 16 races so far. Despite having the world at his feet, the Dutchman doesn’t believe in statistics, a fact that Christian Horner disregards. Horner, who has spent a handsome amount of time in F1, argues that Verstappen belongs to the elite group of Formula 1 icons.

Verstappen, on the other hand, doesn’t believe in statistics. The champion of the 48 GP remarked after his victory in Mexico last year, “ I was never really interested in stats. I just live in the moment. I just try to, of course, do the best I can every single weekend.”

By smashing several records of legends like Lewis Hamilton (most points in a season), Michael Schumacher, and Sebastian Vettel (most wins in a season), as well as surpassing legendary driver Ayrton Senna’s record of 41 victories, Verstappen has become part of the elite list.

Max Verstappen enters the Elite list

Verstappen will simply secure his third consecutive world title by finishing even at P6 in the sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix. A feat only accomplished by legendary F1 drivers Schumacher, Fangio, Vettel, and Hamilton. The Red Bull boss specifically alluded to this when he claimed that Verstappen is proud of himself.

According to a tweet on RBR News, Horner said, “For him, he’s just an out-and-out racer. I know he’s proud of what he’s doing and achieving, but he’s forward-looking. He’s not rearward looking and I think that for him it’s about the next race.”

🗣️ | Christian Horner on if Max has the potential to set new F1 title win record

“There are not many drivers with more than three [titles]. You’ve got Sebastian [Vettel], Alain Prost, [Juan-Manuel] Fangio, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.”

“It’s a pretty select club he’ll… pic.twitter.com/RUkm9KbmvG

— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) October 3, 2023

Following this, Verstappen’s unwavering mindset remained unaffected by Singapore GP’s single setback of the season so far. At the following GP in Japan, Verstappen yet again defeated the P2 by a wide margin.

In light of this, with only six races remaining, Horner has once again placed his bet on Verstappen. The Red Bull ace, though, doesn’t seem to care about carrying out his team’s boss’ desire at a particular location.

Max Verstappen remains unconcerned regarding the timing of his third championship victory

Max Verstappen recently made an unexpected statement in one of his key revelations to racingnews365. The Dutch champion, who could possibly win the title in the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint race, doesn’t care when or where his victory happens.

He said, “No emotion. If it happens on Saturday, Sunday, or the week after, I know that it’s coming. But it’s not something that I’m thinking about too much. Maybe it’s a good thing? A good night out. Might be a bit slower on the reaction time for the lights [on Sunday]. But for me, I don’t really think about it.”

Verstappen leads P2 Perez by 177 points and needs just three more points to win the championship. However, if Sergio Perez comes in third in the sprint, this might turn into yet another out-of-the-ordinary championship weekend for the Dutchman, just like in 2021 and 2022.

The Dutchman’s victory in 2021 was disputed, and in 2022 there was confusion in Japan regarding the number of points. It will be fascinating to see if Perez can help his teammate win another championship.