“Max Verstappen is the best driver in Formula 1”- Christian Horner

“Max Verstappen is the best driver in Formula 1”- Christian Horner makes a bold claim by terming Max Verstappen the best driver in F1.

Max Verstappen at the age of 17 was termed as a prodigy, and soon he went onto make his mark to become the main driver of Red Bull, concreting his reputation in 2020, where he challenged the hegemony of Mercedes.

But for Christian Horner, Verstappen is already the best racer in Formula 1, even though literally nobody ever thought of saying it and dismissing Lewis Hamilton’s credentials.

“I think he is the best, yes,” Horner told RacingNews365 in an exclusive interview regarding Verstappen’s talent. “Russell’s performance at Mercedes confirmed that for me.”

“Max and Lewis stand out for me, but while we absolutely should not be blind to all that Hamilton has achieved, he does have access to a good package while Max has to get more and more out of his car.”

“You can see that by the fact that a driver from Williams qualified directly on the front row of the grid and almost won the race. If someone had to get into Max’s car, if he had coronavirus, they would never reach his level of performance.”

One of the best all-rounders on the track

Last season, Verstappen’s abilities as a lead driver were remained untested, with Alex Albon constantly lacking to make the best out of the car. But Horner thinks Verstappen has regardlessly grown immensely.

“His pace in qualifying is at an extraordinary level, and his racecraft is excellent, along with his tyre management,” he continued. “Max has become better at reading the race, giving feedback to the team but also, for example, dealing with disappointment.”

Verstappen has achieved several accolades in his young career, but Horner believes he hasn’t reached his peak yet. “No, I don’t think so,” he added. “It’s challenging for the other drivers given Max’s performance.”

“If you look at his performance in Abu Dhabi, his pole was phenomenal. Max controlled the race and put in a mature performance from start to finish.”

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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