Max Verstappen created history in Monza by becoming the first driver to win 10 consecutive races in F1 history. However, this time, his work was not cut out to be as easy as we are used to seeing. Instead, he had to work hard to move past the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in the opening laps. This made Red Bull team principal Christian Horner claim that there are a lot more challenges on the horizon for Verstappen and their team as a whole- as reported by GP Blog.
Verstappen’s Saturday was not as good as he would have liked, after losing out on the pole position to Sainz. Coming into the race, the vast majority of the crowd rooted against the Dutchman, as they wanted to see Sainz or his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc finish in P1. Unfortunately for the home favorites, Red Bull was still too fast for them.
Verstappen won the race, followed by a second-placed finish from Sergio Perez, which secured Red Bull’s sixth 1-2 of the season. Horner is baffled and very proud of how well they have done. However, in the races to come, he expects his rivals to be much closer.
Everyone wants to oust Max Verstappen and Red Bull
So far, we have had 14 races this campaign, and Red Bull has emerged victorious in all of them. Verstappen has won 12 races, with Perez claiming the other two victories. Horner is amazed at how the team is ending the European leg this season without losing a single race. However, he does shed light on what he expects in the coming rounds.
“We look at it by race. In Singapore, we drive a street race, where it can also rain,” said Horner. “That is the toughest challenge on the calendar. More major challenges are coming until the end of the season, and the other nine teams want to stop us.”
Horner being wary about potential threats from other teams makes a lot of sense after what happened in Monza. For the first time this season, we saw a team put up a huge challenge to Verstappen and Red Bull, and this was spearheaded by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Horner reflects on Verstappen’s battle with Sainz
Sainz won Driver of the Day in Monza on Sunday, and this was because of how strong he was all weekend. In the race, he managed to defend brilliantly against Verstappen for 14 laps before losing his lead due to a lock-up. However, he certainly put up a defiant display, with his aggressive style of driving earning a fair share of plaudits.
Horner, however, did point out that Sainz was pushing to the limit, as did his teammate Charles Leclerc. Nevertheless, the Madrid-born driver finished the race without any major incidents.
“Carlos was robust,” the Red Bull boss added. “He braked late at times. Moving a few times while braking, but driving in front Ferrari in Monza. He defends, of course, as if his life depended on it, so we expected it. He was on the limit, but he was driving well.”
The next round of the 2023 F1 season takes place in Singapore after a week’s gap. The Singapore GP takes place on the Marina Bay street circuit, one of the most physically demanding tracks on the calendar. Ferrari and Sainz will be hoping to take their good form into that weekend.
