4X Red Bull Champion Sebastian Vettel Kicked to the Curb as “Most Talented” Max Verstappen Takes Coveted Seat at Milton Keynes

Max Verstappen wrapped the title hunt in style when he led every lap and won the Japanese Grand Prix. He currently has 12 wins from the 18 races. Such has been the dominance shown by the Dutchman. Hence the recent bold claim made by Christian Horner doesn’t really come as a surprise.

While the performance has been dominant now, the season did not begin on the best note. With two DNFs in the first 3 races of the season, it was a rocky start. To top that, Ferrari showed signs of resurgence with 2 wins in those three races. However, coupled with an intensive development program, Verstappen displayed some splendid performances to seal the championship.

Christian Horner makes a bold claim while praising Max Verstappen

Sebastian Vettel during his time at Red Bull, was a force to reckon with. The German won 4 consecutive driver’s championship titles and stamped his authority with one of the most dominant seasons in the history of Formula 1 in 2013. The current Aston Martin driver set the record for most consecutive race wins in a season (9), and matched Michael Schumacher’s record for most wins in a season (13).

Despite having witnessed that era firsthand, Christian Horner feels that Max Verstappen is the best Red Bull driver ever. In an interview with The Guardian, Horner said, “He is quite clearly the most talented driver that I think we have had in one of our cars.” 

Talking about an incident in Verstappen’s debut season that caught his eye, Horner recalled, “What stood out was Spa, when he drove round the outside of Felipe Nasr.”

The Red Bull team principal continued, “I thought: ‘This boy is properly brave, committed and quick.’ You saw it that season, he was a shining star. It was evident immediately he was a prodigious talent.” 

Although he is showing a whole new level of dominance in the sport, do you think the two-time world champion Max Verstappen is a better F1 driver than four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel?

Read More: “We Have Nothing to Lose”: Christian Horner Reveals Red Bull’s Tactics to End Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ Era of Dominance

Horner not only praised the Flying Dutchman’s brilliance behind the wheel but he also gave the technical team their due credit for the team’s success in the current season.

Christian Horner praises Red Bull’s technical team

There was a time in the season when Max Verstappen was 46 points behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The RB18 was going through issues of being overweight, which were preventing it from going faster than Ferrari.

From there, to winning the driver’s championship with 4 races to go was no easy road. Horner recently lauded the technical team’s efforts, “I think this is the strongest technical team we’ve ever had.”

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In the coming weekend, Red Bull can win the constructors’ championship, a title that they have missed since 2013. To top that, if Verstappen wins the race, he will match Schumacher and Vettel’s most race wins in a season record.