Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says Max Verstappen put more effort in than in previous years to secure a fourth drivers’ championship under pressure from rivals.
Verstappen finished fifth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix to seal his fourth consecutive title, and did so after battling increasingly stiff competition from McLaren’s Lando Norris season. Horner said the change in dynamic as Red Bull made another dominant start to the year only to see McLaren’s threat gradually rise resulted in Verstappen upping his game even further,
“This was, together with 2021, the toughest,” Horner said. “This one, we started the season very strongly but by Miami it was clear McLaren had made a significant step.
“Through the summer months when we were struggling a bit with the car, he was still second in Silverstone, second in Zandvoort and (Max) was still picking up big podiums and results. Behind the scenes he was putting a massive amount of effort in with the engineers, designers and on the simulator – more than any of the previous years.
“He’s been outstanding this year – not only what he’s done inside the cockpit, and I think he’s inspired within the cockpit, but out of the cockpit as well, the way he has conducted himself and worked with the engineers and all the technical staff, has been phenomenal.”