Horner: 'It's a privilege to be part of Verstappen's performance'
Red Bull Racing took the constructors' cup back to Milton Keynes in 2022 after eight years following a dominant year. Team boss Christian Horner expects next season to be a lot more intense, with Max Verstappen struggling to repeat his record-breaking season.
Whereas Ferrari started the season strong but weakened, and Mercedes started weak and worked their way to the front, Red Bull Racing (apart from reliability problems in the first few races) was consistently strong all year. The fast RB18 in the hands of tyre whisperer Verstappen was the formula for 2022. Verstappen took his second world title in a row and Red Bull took over Mercedes' spot at the top of the standings. Speaking to Channel 4 prior to the Abu Dhabi GP, Horner said that next year will be different.
Horner expects tougher year for Verstappen in 2023
Ferrari will have learned a lot from last season and Mercedes will do everything they can to avoid starting the season so badly again. Horner expects a more intense fight: "It will be intense and I'm sure it will be very close. I don't think we won't be sitting here next year with 14 wins for one driver and 16 wins in total with twenty-odd races behind us."
Red Bull is no stranger to winning championships. With Sebastian Vettel, the team won four in a row from 2010 to 2013. With the 2022 comeback, Horner sees similarities to a decade ago: "This year is definitely up there. The way Max dominated, utterly dominated, in the drivers championship is been a privilege to be a part of and to witness."
Max just doesn't make mistakes. His one "spin" cost him maybe 2 seconds total as he caught it perfectly. I've been rewatching old races and every driver called "great" usually makes at least one of those type of mistakes per race or worse. Verstappen had just one over a 20+ race season. Absolutely incredible to do that while at the same time lapping half a second faster than the rest of the grid kissing every apex like automotive poetry.
- A driver without a hugh partymode advantage so he could start on pole for 90% - A driver without the FIA bending the rules in his advantage. - A driver which have to compete with different teams and different drivers instead of only your teammate for years. - A driver who always gets the blame of collisions, even if it’s not clearly his fault.
We are seeing probably the most talented and complete driver in F1 we have for many many years. - A driver that doesn't play mind games with his team mates in order to get ahead. - A driver who can win races and championships without driving the absolute best car in the field for the season. - A driver who is very skilled in wheel to wheel battles. - A driver who knows how to drive to the limits of his car and tyres and not to cause mechanical damage and to preserve his tyres. We have seen drivers, past and present, who are good in perhaps 2 or 3 of the criterions but Max is the complete package who is able to tick all the boxes.
.....'- A driver who can win races and championships without driving the best car in the season.'....... He's had the best car this season without a doubt and arguebly the best last season too, if you think otherwise then how come he's never won any championships before? Simple....its because he's not had the best car and you can't argue with that because you Max fan girls keep banging on about Lewis' championships and because it was the best car and not the driver but now when it comes to Max winning two championships its not the car so must be the driver - ....'A driver who is very skilled in wheel to wheel battles.'..... Ha ha ha, stop it my sides are splitting! Most of the time drivers jump out of the way or he'll barge them
Do you understand English ? MV needs a competitive car to win races even though he won with rubbish as well . LH needs a car that gives him 2 seconds per lap advantage, to be at the front and nobody around him to win races. Merc was the fastest car in 2021 and Ferrari the fastest in 2022 _ shake your head , maybe the sound will wake you up to reality.
He needed the best car to win, actually Verstappen is the one who has proven this hypothesis to be correct. He had 8 years in F1, he didn't compete for championships in the first 6 coz he didn't have the car. Now he has the car, Red Bull have mastered the new rules to produce the best car, he is winning. Please don't downplay Red Bull factory guys like Newey's work, they worked very hard to produce a winning car. It's not all Verstappen, otherwise if it was all Verstappen then he can win in a Haas or at his Toro Rosso Don't bring Ferrari who were only good over one lap, this is multiple lap racing not one lap racing
At least you helped me find another Lewey buffoon to put on ignore. Thanks Jacob.
Popular on GPBlog
F1 Full Results | Japanese Grand Prix FP2: Piastri P1, Norris P2
F1 LIVE | Follow FP2 for the Japanese Grand Prix here
Mercedes breaks F1 rule ahead of Japanese Grand Prix weekend
