Verstappen narrowly misses target according to Horner: 'Missed seven tenths'
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Max Verstappen was back to his dominant form in Japan after an off-weekend in Singapore. The Dutchman was by far the fastest in qualifying and was also unbeatable on Sunday. Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner says his driver was very motivated for the Grand Prix weekend in Japan.
Verstappen dominant again in Japan
At the start, Verstappen had to fight briefly with Lando Norris for the lead, but eventually, the Dutchman held on. This allowed Verstappen to drive his own race and win the race with a lead of almost 20 seconds. Before the Grand Prix, Horner said Verstappen already had the goal of winning the race by such a margin.
"He's just done an incredible job, and he came here very fired up after Singapore, and from the first lap, he's been totally dominant. That first lap in P1 was two seconds quicker than anybody else at that stage, and you could see he was fully motivated. The lap yesterday in itself was just stunning, and then he wanted to win this race by 20 seconds, and he got within seven-tenths of doing that," Horner told Viaplay after the race in Japan.
Red Bull skips party for now
In Japan, Red Bull Racing became constructors' champion for the sixth time, but the Austrian racing stable will not celebrate for the time being. "It's at the end of the year. Everybody's got to pack up and get back to Europe now. It's been a long trip away this one, but we'll save the celebrating for later in the year."