Horner jokes: "Verstappen's Grandma must have been pretty quick!"
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Christian Horner can't beat his luck after Max Verstappen's victory at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone. The Red Bull Racing team boss did not expect that a victory would be possible for the RB16.
"It was a great performance," Horner told Sky Sports. The top man didn't expect the RB16 to be so fast during this year's second race at Silverstone. "It went better than expected. Max really took it easy at the start of the GP. It went really well."
Red Bull believed in victory at first stint
Verstappen had a relatively long first stint on the hard tyres, while Mercedes had to pit quickly to trade in the mediums. Despite Hamilton and Bottas being on newer tyres, Verstappen kept running away. "It was actually quite easy. As the gap got bigger, you can feel it's really game-on."
Verstappen was told by the onboard radio not to push too much on his hard tyres, but he didn't care. He told his engineer that he wouldn't stick behind Hamilton like a grandmother. "His grandmother must have been pretty fast," Horner laughs. "We managed to cover them. The car worked great, even Alexander Albon's. The speed was there."
Boost of self-confidence for Red Bull
At the end of the race, Hamilton seemed to be heading for a one-stop race, but in the end, that didn't turn out to be him for Mercedes. "Max managed to keep them away, that's fantastic. To win here at Silverstone is unbelievable. We beat them honestly, on speed and on tactics. We're putting a lot of trust in them," Horner concluded.