Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes the frustration Max Verstappen felt during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend was the catalyst for his upturn in fortunes this season.
The Dutchman had endured a tough start to 2018, getting involved in incidents with Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo during the first four races, but when he crashed in Saturday practice in Monte Carlo it ended his hopes of challenging his teammate for victory.
In the race, a noticeably calmer approach emerged and that has largely continued with five podiums the result and one victory in Austria to his name.
“That hurt him quite badly because he’s obviously extremely quick in Monaco – right up until the point he crashed!” Horner explained to Sky Sports.
“That was a tough outcome for him and since that point, he has driven incredibly well.”
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On Sunday, he commemorated his 21st birthday with arguably his performance of the year in Sochi, moving up to fifth from 19th on the grid after just eight laps and would go on to lead the most laps of any driver before slipping down to fifth after his pit-stop.
“If you look at his season, it’s been very, very strong,” added Horner continuing to look more broadly. “He’s driven some great races and he’s maturing and got quite a reasonable amount of experience now.
“He’s performing at an incredibly high level, you can see that in the barometer with his team-mate. They are two very competitive guys and he’s driving extremely well.”