Christian Horner, director of the Red Bull team, said Max Verstappen was the biggest driver he ever saw and never run for his stable.
Horner has directed Red Bull since the arrival of the F1 team 20 years ago. The stable counted 14 pilots on date, five of whom won Grands Prix. One of them, Sebastian Vettel, also has four pilot championships to his credit, like Verstappen.
However, Horner claims that Verstappen must be considered the largest pilot to have managed one of their cars.
“We were lucky to have very talented pilots here, and of course a quadruple world champion in the person of Sebastian Vettel. But I think Max goes even further.”
Although Horner was convinced that Verstappen is the best current F1 driver, he said he was “Difficult to judge whether it should be considered the greatest driver of all time.”
“It is certainly the largest pilot on the grid at this stage. The way of comparing the generations has been debated, but it must now be put at the same level as some of the greatest of all time.”
“He has all the qualities to beat many records, but it will depend on our ability to give him the necessary tools and the duration of his career. It is in any case the best driver I have ever seen, that Red Bull has ever seen.”
Horner described the Verstappen qualification tour in Suzuka, where he has ahead of McLaren drivers for pole position with less than five hundredths of a second, such as an example “exceptional” of his talent.
“I could see, following his comparison time (with the McLaren), that we are absorbed by his advance with each turn. He arrived at the Spoon turn and he succeeded perfectly. And then, we can see the time for comparison: he earns a tenth and a half, two tenths compared to his previous turn, and we say to ourselves:” OK, if he can keep this place, “
“We look at this time of comparison: he lost a hundredth in the straight line, then he perfectly succeeded in the last chicane and found, I believe, three quarters of a second more. He made a good outing, remained tight to the line and, barely, managed to win the pole.”
“For me, watching him to pilot the car is a bit like Roger Federer at the top of his art striking a tennis ball. He does it with incredible precision and timing. We also look at his first sector in Djeddah and it is a real pleasure to see it completely concentrated, completely confident and exploiting each ounce of performance. His timing and precision are exceptional.”
