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Red Bull boss Christian Horner has made a bold proclamation that the team is wholeheartedly behind Max Verstappen's bid to become a world champion and that would be the team's only focus this season. This call comes in the aftermath of the Dutch driver winning his second race of the season in Imola.
The call does come across as slightly counterintuitive as well because every team's first objective is fighting for the constructors' championship. The championship win means more prize money and a bigger bonus for the squad. Red Bull, however, is not in a position to do such a thing.
The team has Max Verstappen, a driver who can extract the most from the car that Red Bull has built. On the other side of the garage, however, is Yuki Tsunoda, who is unable to keep up, and he is not the first one in a long line of teammates who have struggled against the Dutch driver.
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As a result, even though the Red Bull car still has some deficit, Max Verstappen has been able to keep the McLaren duo in his sights and hence is in title contention. The biggest example of it was the F1 Imola GP, where he beat the McLaren duo to win.
Talking about the title prospects, the Red Bull boss was quite blunt as he claimed that the team was completely behind Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship and that was the sole focus of the squad. He told Sky Sports,
"I've always said this championship is a marathon. We are on race seven and we have won two of them. It's all about where you are at the end of it. You've got to stay in touch through this phase."
He added,
"We are finding form. It's a completely different challenge next weekend and then a regulation change the weekend after. Our full focus is on the drivers' championship. We have a very clear No 1. in our team and that's where the clear focus is."
Horner on Max Verstappen's overtake on Oscar Piastri
The F1 Imola GP was more or less decided on the very first lap, and it was done through Max Verstappen's brilliance. The Dutch driver pulled off a stunning overtake of Oscar Piastri to take the lead, and from that point onwards it was all about managing the race and making sure he had a decent gap to the chasing pack. Horner lauded the Dutch driver's overtake as he said,
"That first corner was in it or bin it. Oscar was fair and gave him space but Max was coming from a way back and he just commits to the corner. That was the last they saw of him. Incredibly decisive. He's just so good in those situations.Oscar is trying to defend a championship lead and Max saw a gap and went for it. That's the instinctive racer we see week in and week out."
Max Verstappen has now closed the gap on Oscar Piastri in the championship by 10 points. The Australian is now 22 points ahead of the Dutch driver as the championship battle continues to get more intense.
