Christian Horner praises ‘mature’ Max Verstappen for accepting Lando Norris had more pace in Zandvoort

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner reckoned that Max Verstappen drove a mature race in Zandvoort as Lando Norris clinched a dominant win.

Christian Horner praises ‘mature’ Max Verstappen for accepting Lando Norris had more pace in Zandvoort

Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Christian Horner (Via: Imago)

Max Verstappen had a difficult outing at his home weekend in Zandvoort. The Dutch driver did not seem to have the pace to battle Lando Norris for the race win. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner applauded Verstappen for acknowledging the fact that McLaren had the advantage during the weekend.

Horner pointed out that it became clear Norris and McLaren had the quicker car at the start of the weekend. The Red Bull boss claimed that Max Verstappen accepted that he simply did not have that fast of a car in Zandvoort. As the Dutch driver lost the race by a gap of over 22 seconds to Lando Norris.

I think he accepted that Lando just had a quicker car, and actually saw that from Friday.
Christian Horner said, as reported by RacingNews365
YouTube video

Moreover, Christian Horner reckoned that Max Verstappen was mature and composed during the race. The reigning world champion did damage limitation and only conceded seven points to Norris by finishing second. This could turn out to be crucial in the last few races.

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I think he drove a very mature race where he wanted to ensure that he was only conceding seven points to Lando, he didn't want to concede more than that.
Christian Horner added
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Christian Horner, Max Verstappen, and Jos Verstappen (images via IMAGO)

Red Bull ‘not scared’ by McLaren’s dominant Dutch GP win

Red Bull had no answer to Lando Norris’ stellar drive in Zandvoort. Max Verstappen just fell behind the Briton after the latter retook the lead of the race. Nevertheless, Christian Horner claimed that the team was not scared by McLaren’s pace in any way. Rather, Milton Keynes was now focused on turning things around in the next few races.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko (via IMAGO)
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko (via IMAGO)
It doesn't scare us in any way. It just focuses the mind that, okay, we need to turn this around. We need to get it right.
Christian Horner stated

Max Verstappen still has a healthy lead in the standings to Norris. However, things could change quickly if Red Bull fails to improve in the coming weeks. The Dutch driver will undoubtedly push himself to the limit to ensure he clinches his fourth consecutive world title this year.

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