Christian Horner says Max Verstappen’s mental drive is on ‘another level’ compared to Lewis Hamilton

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner compares Verstappen's mindset to that of old F1 greats and Hamilton.

Christian Horner says Max Verstappen’s mental drive is on ‘another level’ compared to Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (Via IMAGO)

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is full of praise for his driver and the triple World Champion Max Verstappen. He was found comparing his driver to the past Formula 1 greats like Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna, and even the present Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. He believes Verstappen’s mindset flows similarly to that of Hamilton’s.

Horner thinks that Verstappen shares similar traits to the greatest sportspeople of all time, like the Clarks, the Stewarts, and the Fangios. He believes he only saw this type of desire and belief in Sebastian Vettel during his early 2010s run with the team. According to Horner, the Dutchman’s not obsessive in chasing records or statistics but rather the feeling of being better than everyone around him.

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In his recent interview reported by express.co.uk, Horner highlighted the hunger and determination that makes the F1 drivers true greats of the sport. He pointed out that compared to drivers like Hamilton and Senna, Max Verstappen possesses the ability to take that ability to the next level.

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I think all the greats had a huge hunger and determination like Hamiltons or any of the drivers that have gone before. I think Max even takes that to another level when is at his best.

He continues to compare Verstappen with the greats of other sports as well, saying that inner desire, inner belief, and inner hunger drive athletes like him to achieve the greatest success.

Going back through all of the F1 greats. They all had an inner drive and an inner belief and I think that we saw that in Sebastian, and now in Max.

Lewis Hamilton’s bet on Max Verstappen winning the remaining three races to accumulate 19 wins at the season’s end

After the comparison of Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen, the former believes that no one is going to stop the Red Bull champion from winning 19 races this season. Even Verstappen’s greatest rival is ready to bet on his success says a lot about Verstappen’s terrific season.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (Via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (Via IMAGO)
Hopefully, these next couple of races will be close. But I'd probably put money on it that he'll get to 18, 19 wins with that car.

According to the Briton, all the teams need to work very hard so that the case of Bahrain 2023 doesn’t repeat, where the Red Bulls were 1.5s clear of the grid.

With just three races left this season, Hamilton will aim to finish ahead of the second Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez, for P2 in the Driver’s Standings. He is only short of 20 points he’d need to cover to destroy Red Bull’s perfect season.

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