Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admits watching Max Verstappen claim victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix was extra “satisfying” after the difficulties the young Dutchman has had in 2017.
Going into Sunday’s final race at Sepang the newly-turned 20-year-old had only completed 54% of racing laps and retired from seven of the first 14 races but you would have never know that as Max sythed past Lewis Hamilton into Turn 1 to take the lead and went on to claim a second Formula 1 win in peerless fashion.
The result also now leaves Kimi Raikkonen as the only driver from the top three teams not to have won a race this season with five different men having now stood on the top step, the most in the hybrid era.
“It is really satisfying particularly with Max who was last on the podium at the beginning of April in race two (in China),” Horner commented. “He has endured so much bad luck this year but he’s kept his head down.
“The race he drove today was truly dominant, and the pass he made on Lewis early on was a key moment. From that moment he controlled the race exceptionally to the finish. It is a great result for Max.”
It was the second time Red Bull has won a race this season as Daniel Ricciardo was the last man standing in Baku, yet the inability to regularly compete with Ferrari and Mercedes has led to suggestions both the Australian and Verstappen could consider leaving after 2018.
Horner has constantly brushed aside such comments and claims the performance in the past few races is proof the team is firmly back on the right track.
“The drivers have seen the progress of the car, particularly in the second half of the season,” he said. “When you consider we started off about 1.5 seconds off in Melbourne, to have had the best car here this weekend is a testimony to the hard work that goes on behind the scenes by all the guys and girls back in Milton Keynes who have worked tirelessly this year.”
