Despite Max Verstappen’s Unstoppable Success, Red Bull Boss Was Surprised to See the Dutchman Take So Long to Lead Belgium GP

Christian Horner has recently shared his astonishment after Max Verstappen won the race at Belgian Grand Prix. Although many Team Principals would be happy that their driver won a race after starting from behind the grid, instead Horner was surprised. Horner revealed that he was surprised that the Red Bull driver, who has been the fastest driver by a mile this season and massively successful, was held back by his teammate Sergio Perez for quite a time.

Verstappen started the Spa Francorchamps race from P6. Even after claiming the pole position on Friday, the Dutchman was shifted down below after he took a gearbox change penalty. With that, he got himself placed in between the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

As the lights went off at Spa, Charles Leclerc shot up to take the lead of the race, followed by Perez in P2. Lewis Hamilton was next in P3 and behind him was Carlos Sainz and eventually Verstappen in P5.

However, going into turn 3, it was already the Mexican driver who took the lead in the race. And at the same time, the two-time world champion pulled off his move on a struggling Sainz. But ultimately, the defending champion was able to overtake Hamilton, Leclerc and finally Perez to lead the Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen’s late lead of the GP surprised Horner

Max Verstappen took the lead in the race at Lap 17. Even though it did not sound much later, it was after one-third of the race was over. Given the Spa, the track is quite lengthy so 17 out of 44 laps was certainly everything, but not less.

Furthermore, he also has to pass two fewer cars of Piastri and Sainz at full speed which started ahead of him. The duo had a collision that ended both of their races. Revealing his astonishment, the Red Bull boss said according to Planet F1, “Surprised it took him [Verstappen] so long to get to the front, to be honest with you!”

Following this, he praised the valiant efforts shown by Perez in the race. From overtaking Leclerc in Lap one to keeping Verstappen at bay for quite some time, the Guadalajara man was incredible. Admittedly, this has been a major boost for Perez amid rumors of him getting replaced by Red Bull.

But Perez, all season, was no match for the mighty successful Verstappen. The 25-year-old is now firmly in P1, with 125 points clear over his teammate. Furthermore, he has more points than the team in P2 in the Constructors’ championship.

Horner and Co. broke Verstappen’s trophy, again

After Lando Norris unintentionally broke Verstappen’s winner’s trophy in Hungary, the Red Bull driver saw his Belgian trophy getting broken again. And this time it was his team who acted as the culprits.

Following the race win and 1-2 finish, the mood at Red Bull garage was nothing but festive. There, while celebrating the mega weekend just before the summer break, the Austrian stable erupted in joy and had photo sessions.

As everyone was done with the shoot, they jumped out of the place, which resulted in the steel plate falling on the 25-year-old’s trophy. As a result, it was again into two pieces, which erupted Verstappen to say “It’s broken again.”

With the win at Spa Francorchamps, Max Verstappen took his winning tally to 10 this season, that too out of 12 races. Furthermore, he extended his race-winning streak to eight, just one short of Sebastian Vettel. It’ll be interesting to see if the Red Bull driver manages to eclipse Sebastian Vettel when the lights go out at Zandvoort.