Christian Horner: 'Max is a no-bullshit racer'

Published on 03 July 2021 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen is having a great season so far as leader in the Formula 1 world championship standings. In the podcast of Beyond The Grid from Formula1.com, Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing team principal, talks about the stormy development of the Dutchman.

“He has again brought dynamic into the team particularly now with the experience he has with the ripe old age of 23. He is performing at an phenomenal level, he has been for the last two or three seasons”, says Horner. “I think he deserves a car that we are now finally being able to provide him, with an engine that can challenge Mercedes and I think he is relishing that.”

On the question regarding how Max has developed over the years, he replies: “He was 17 when he joined us so the difference between 17 and 23 is a big percentage of a young person’s life. I think the maturity, the experience he has now, he has got his feet on the ground.”

“He is just a no-bullshit racer. That’s all he cares about, that’s what he wants to do and you know when you put him in the car, he is going to give you a 110%. That’s what makes him so exciting to watch. You know, look at Imola this year, he started P3 on the grid, he is not going to be there on the first corner. That kind of thing, you just know you are going to get 110% from him.”

In the podcast Horner looks back at his first win in Spain. The Dutchman won in Barcelona at his Red Bull-début. What went through your mind when he won there?

“How the hell did he do that? Because we thought we put Daniel on a better strategy and Max managed to convert a one-stop, or whatever it was, into a win.” I was thinking: “How did he make the tyres last? Did he just do that? I remember it was the most surreal thing. He had never sat in the car for the weekend you know. We just chucked him straight in and boom, first victory.”

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