Horner reveals special words from Ecclestone after Verstappen's win

Ecclestone has seen pretty much everything in Formula 1. The 94-year-old was present with his father at the very first offical Formula 1 World Championship race at Silverstone in 1950 which is a competition he went on to run. The former CEO of Formula 1 still attends races when he can, and that included the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix where he witnessed an impressive performance from Verstappen. The Dutchman started 17th and worked his way to victory in wet conditions.

On Sky Sports' broadcast, Bernie Ecclestone made a prediction ahead of the race: "I am a big supporter of the winner here - Max. I support him," the Brit stated before the race had begun. A few hours later, Ecclestone was proved right.

Ecclestone is fan of Verstappen

Former F1 driver turned pundit Karun Chandhok ran into Ecclestone, who briefly reminded him of the prediction: "I told you so," the former F1 chief grinned. Ecclestone, however, did not leave it at that. After the Grand Prix, he also phoned Christian Horner. The Red Bull boss revealled details of the conversation after the race.

"It's difficult to make those calls about generation to generation," Horner said when thinking about where Verstappen's performance ranked in the history of F1. "Bernie rang me after the race and said, ‘I've seen all the greats but that's one of the very best I've ever seen.’ He's a bit older than I am and seen a bit more. High credit from someone like him," he concluded.

Ecclestone has seen the likes of Giuseppe Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton all performance at their best. By these comments, the Brit firmly places Verstappen amongst those names. Verstappen recieved high praise from all around the world with his performance in Brazil. The international media waxed lyrical about his performance which saw him put one hand on a fourth (consecutive) F1 World Championship.

This article has been created in collaboration with Tim Kraaij