Christian Horner claims Max Verstappen ‘demonstrated’ why he’s world champion after Spanish GP victory

Max Verstappen won the Spanish GP after a fascinating strategic battle with Lando Norris.

Christian Horner claims Max Verstappen ‘demonstrated’ why he’s world champion after Spanish GP victory

Christian Horner and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Red Bull began the 2024 season with an unprecedented lead over its rivals. On the other hand, as the season progressed, McLaren and Ferrari started to snap away wins from their clutches. This left the Austrian squad vulnerable to a title threat as the race emerged between these contenders. However, after their win in Spain in dire conditions, Christian Horner claimed that Max Verstappen demonstrated why he was a world champion after a stellar drive.

Max Verstappen joined F1 with the support of Red Bull in 2015. Since then, the Dutchman has been loyal to the Austrian squad and has pulled out spectacular victories whenever the team needed him. This was subsequently observed in Spain as Verstappen was beaten out to pole by McLaren‘s Lando Norris and was the main candidate for a win around the 4.6-kilometer track.

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However, this soon changed as going into turn one, the reigning champion overtook the young Brit with ease, and controlled the race from there on.

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The team is working at a level where we're still at the top. We're still delivering the pit stops at 1.9 seconds and the strategy, etc, but Max[Verstappen] again demonstrated why he's the world champion, at the key moments he delivers.
Christian Horner said as reported by Gpblog

Red Bull supremo, Christian Horner explained that the team’s personnel is giving their all and that is what differentiates them from other manufacturers. However, Verstappen’s immaculate pace and determination cannot be ruled out, as Horner claimed that he demonstrated to the field why he was a world champion, as he was the benchmark in Spain.

Christian Horner labels Lando Norris as the biggest challenger to Max Verstappen

While the Dutchman illustrated why he was still the guy to beat, Norris started to cement his name in the paddock. Recently, the 24-year-old has been challenging Verstappen for wins and has turned quite a few heads.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

This includes Horner, who claimed the former race winner to be the most consistent challenger on the grid.

I would say that Lando has emerged from the pack as the most consistent challenger.
Christian Horner said as quoted by Mirror

The 50-year-old was astounded by Norris’ pace in the dying stages of the race. Moreover, Verstappen barely edged Norris over the line as the latter finished a mere 2.2 seconds behind him. This urged Horner, who admitted that his younger compatriot was the most consistent challenger to the Dutchman.

However, as things stand, Verstappen has a 69-point lead over Norris. With over a dozen races left to go, the championship battle could spice up in the upcoming races.

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