Horner: "Verstappen now joins that elite group, it's as simple as that"

Perez mentioned how it was to be Verstappen's teammate. Two other drivers, Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon, have said the same thing. With the same thing being repeated, there is definitely some truth to it. However, Perez has also said that he would not like to be in Verstappen's next teammate's shoes, especially if they are younger than Verstappen himself. 

What does Horner expect for the second Red Bull Racing driver? "I think probably being Max's teammate’s the toughest drive in Formula One because he's such a high standard, such a high bar. And his performances are just relentless. So anybody sat in the car alongside him has got to have tremendous strength of character and have the ability, obviously, to work within a team and be able to focus on themselves and, to a degree, almost ignore what's going on in the other car."

Comparison with Schumacher and Senna

The Red Bull Racing team boss continued, "I think that's where mentally it becomes incredibly tough, as we've seen with many of the greats. I'm sure when you worked with Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna previously, teammates had a similarly hard job, and Max now joins that elite group of people. It's as simple as that." Horner praised the four-time world champion.

This article was translated by Savannah Lenz.