‘He has been on another planet this year’ Christian Horner lavishes praise on Max Verstappen for a dominant 2022 season
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Christian Horner and Max Verstappen celebrating the Dutchman's championship win in 2021
After an incredible drive in wet conditions, Max Verstappen became a two-time world champion. It had been coming, and even Charles Leclerc admitted that he knew it was just a matter of time. The way he did it was certainly bizarre, and confusing. It was expected that 75% points will be awarded as running did not exceed 75% of total scheduled laps.
But that was not the case, and instead, full points were awarded as the 75% rule is only for races that have been suspended. If the race finishes normally, then full points are awarded. This confusion meant that the team could not celebrate as much as they would have hoped they did, and even the Dutchman did not know he was the champion.
Regardless of an anti-climactic ending, Christian Horner is clear that a win is a win: “A championship win is a championship win. [But for] This one, I think the blood pressure is way lower than in Abu Dhabi.” said the Briton as per RaceFans. And it is not as if anyone can argue that Verstappen is not a deserving champion.
Christian Horner on Max Verstappen: ‘A joy to see him reach another level’
After Australia, Charles Leclerc had a lead of 46 points over Max Verstappen, who was a lowly sixth due to two retirements. But that deficit would soon evaporate. By Monaco, Verstappen was in the lead. The Monegasque retired in Spain while in the lead, and the team were outclassed on strategy in Monaco. Another retirement followed in Azerbaijan.
Leclerc then began catching up, but a self-inflicted crash in France brought an end to that: Christian Horner said that the ‘easy’ title win means just as much this year: “For Max, becoming world champion last year, carrying that number one on the car, he’s driven with such conviction this year and he’s defended the title in such a dominant fashion. It’s been a joy to see him reach another level this year.”
Horner continued: “After a couple of difficult races early in the season, the way the team’s bounced back, the way he’s driven, he’s dominated this championship.” he further referenced the Dutchman’s amazing drive in Suzuka: “To put 25 seconds on Charles in 20-odd laps [at the Japanese GP] was a massive performance.” also adding: “I think Max has been on another planet this year. He has dominated this championship, and driven with such maturity, such conviction.”
This is already Red Bull’s most successful season of all time, with 14 wins, and Max Verstappen himself only needs to win 2 more out of the 4 races left in the season to break the record of the most wins in a single season. In Austin, Ferrari will have to outscore Red Bull by 19 points to prevent the British team from sealing the Constructor’s championship as well.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)