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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen’s achievements in F1 so far are “hugely impressive” given the Dutchman’s relatively young age.
Horner believes that Verstappen’s title victory last season removed an “awful lot” of pressure on the latter, freeing him up to pursue the rest of his career as he pleases. Speaking to the Associated Press ahead of the 2022 F1 French GP, the Briton said:
“What Max has achieved so far in his career is hugely impressive and I’m sure he’s going to build on that. I think having achieved that first title, it removes an awful lot of pressure but at the same time, it fuels a hunger. He’s hungrier than ever and driving better than ever.”
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Max Verstappen became one of the youngest F1 world champions last season at just 24 years of age when he beat Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes to clinch his maiden title.
Since then, he has signed a new long-term deal with Red Bull that would see him stay with the Austrian outfit until at least 2028. And given the team’s performances this season, they are likely to remain championship contenders in the upcoming season as well, giving Verstappen plenty of opportunities to add more titles to his tally.
Horner, on the other hand, doesn’t expect the Dutchman to break Hamilton’s impressive records anytime soon. He added, saying:
“What Lewis has achieved is incredible and it’s difficult to envisage those records being broken. So much depends on the equipment that you have.”
“Who knows what the future holds?”
Max Verstappen “never shied away” from performing under pressure, says Red Bull chief
One of the things that sets “great sportsmen” like Max Verstappen apart from the rest is the way they deal with pressure, according to Christian Horner. The Briton felt that Verstappen “never shied away” from delivering his best even under enormous pressure last season. Speaking to AP, Horner said:
“You can always tell with the great sportsmen; they deliver when they are under the most pressure. I think that Max [Verstappen] has never shied away from delivering under pressure.”
“Some of the pressure he was under last year and the performances he was able to deliver... Incredible.”
The 2021 F1 season was witness to one of the most intense title battles of the last decade. The two protagonists — Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen — faced off in almost every race and kept the battle going until the very last round in Abu Dhabi.
Once Hamilton took the lead and disappeared off into the distance in that race, it all seemed over for Verstappen. Yet the Dutchman kept calm and fought hard to remain in contention until the very end, only to be rewarded with a late safety car intervention that allowed him to pass Hamilton to clinch the title.
