“Lewis Hamilton Is the Most Successful Driver”: Christian Horner Makes Surprising Statement While Explaining F1’s Driver Bias

“You’ve got a problem, change your f**king car”, said Christian Horner to Toto Wolff when the Mercedes CEO complained about the porpoising. Red Bull and Mercedes’ rivalry is very much like Ford vs Ferrari. Anyone would do anything to make a snarky comment against the other. But in a surprising turn of events, Christian Horner hailed Lewis Hamilton. Regardless, just seconds later called the 7X champ out for driver bias. 

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen became eternal rivals during the 2021 season. Even today, when the Briton is nowhere near the Dutchman in terms of performance, people make comparisons at every possible moment. Amid all this, Christian Horner came out and complemented Hamilton. He suggested that Lewis Hamilton is the most successful F1 driver. Horner just states a fact as Hamilton had the joint most championships and the most wins ever in F1. 

Yet, Horner stating this fact about Hamilton and saying it out loud seems not so Christian Horner. After all, it wouldn’t seem like a Horner statement without some friendly banter containing a jab or two toward Mercedes. But don’t worry, the Red Bull TP did exactly that a couple of seconds after the Most Success driver statement. He advised on how having the status that Hamilton has, the Briton has more authority on how things happen in the team compared to Russell. 

According to the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Christian Horner said, “I mean, Max came to us as a teenager, he’s now a world champion. I think the same with Lewis Hamilton, he’s the most successful driver of all time. He will have more sway within his team than his teammates because his value to the team is significantly greater. And I think that it’s a matter of keeping that in check. Of Course there will be certain privileges that are allowed to the star player. But he’s still part of the team. There’s no room for prima donna because at that point it becomes bigger than the team. He can’t achieve what he wants to without having the team behind him.”

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Whilst Hamilton has more influence on the team, Horner advised him to keep it in check so that he doesn’t become bigger than the team. After all, F1 is a team sport. Regardless, Lewis Hamilton’s former teammate advised Russell to put pressure on Mercedes

George Russell to put pressure on Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton 

While most F1 teams deny having a No.1 driver, there is always an unsaid No.1 driver who gets some preference. In Mercedes’ case, it’s the 7X champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton himself knows how to put pressure on an experienced teammate as he did in his rookie season on Fernando Alonso. Now, Nico Rosberg asked George Russell to put pressure on Mercedes to counter Hamilton’s threat. 

Nico Rosberg, in conversation with Motorsport-Total.com, said, “It is also a very difficult situation for George. Unfortunately, you can’t just be the nice guy in this situation. You also have to maintain the pressure internally. Unfortunately, you have to make it difficult for the team. It’s annoying, but otherwise the team will always take the easiest way.”

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