Max Verstappen “The Deserving Champion” – Red Bull Has Final Say on the Matter

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner cannot have a better year. After winning the drivers’ championship with Max Verstappen last year, Red Bull is set to win the double championship this season with a dominating performance over other rivals.

Horner recently appeared on the F1 podcast Beyond the Grid, where he shared anecdotes from behind the scenes on the Red Bull team front. He dove into battling Covid, the challenges of coming up with car concepts remotely and immense admiration for Max Verstappen.

Christian Horner explained that it is in the DNA of the team to ‘go for it’ and that they are indeed attacking in nature as a team.

The team boss stated they went into the development of their car pretty late in 2021. They were literally one of the last teams to have transitioned abiding by the new regulations in place by the FIA. Unsurprisingly, Horner never fails to show his admiration for Max Verstappen as he delved into his accomplishments like in Budapest when he won from having started 10th on the grid.

Horner said, “To be able to give Max a car for the first time to challenge consistently, and some of the races he drove, you know, last year were phenomenal. He had some bad luck. He had a puncture in Azerbaijan, with incidents as well. That cost us huge amounts of points, whether it was silver stone or Hungary or even Monza.

“There was a lot going on off track that took as much energy as the on track battle. It all boiled down to that last lap in Abu Dhabi. And of course, there’ll be contrast of opinions on that, but you know we took our chances, and we got the strategy right and Max still had to go and make the overtake. And he got the job done and when you look at the season, he was the deserving champion.”

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It isn’t just Christian alone, but Max feels the same level of admiration for the team. It is a two-way street, indeed.

This Is Why Max Verstappen Never Left Red Bull

When it boils down to it, mutual respect and learning do go a long way. Red Bull is quite the benchmark for this. Not only does the Team Principal have immense faith in Max, but Max himself has learned plenty from the team, and completely trusts the process with all his patience.

Max said, “The team hasn’t really changed a lot. We have got a few more people on board in the last few years and everyone is doing their job to the best they possibly can at the moment, and it is really enjoyable to be a part of the team. There’s a really good team atmosphere and I always find that is the most important.”

“Even if, let’s say, you’re not winning, but if the team atmosphere is good, then you can improve a lot over time and you have to be patient as well, you cannot force things. That’s what I always learned. That’s why I never left as well. I trusted the process and sometimes you could have said, ‘Ah, it’s time to leave or go somewhere else and try to chase immediate success’. But I trusted the process and I believed in the people in the team and it’s paying off so I’m very happy where I am,” He concluded.

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With the Singapore Grand Prix nearing, fans are expecting Max to win the world championship here itself. Will Max be able to do that?