Verstappen answered the criticism with Sao Paulo victory, reckons Horner

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner reckons that reigning champion Max Verstappen has answered his critics with his sensational victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Having shown encouraging pace in Sunday's early qualifying, Max Verstappen only qualified 12th after being unable to finish his Q2 lap due to red flags. As a result of his grid drop penalty, he was demoted to P17 on the grid. The Dutch driver had a brilliant getaway, picking up a handful of places on the first lap alone. From there he displayed enormous pace, proving particularly strong and comfortable under breaking.

He managed to climb through the field, but he got stuck behind the trio of Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Charles Leclerc. He stayed out under the VSC while his direct rivals pitted. Although it could have been disastrous for Verstappen, but a red flag followed soon after which meant he was able to get a free change of tyres in the pit lane.

After the race was restarted, the reigning champion found himself in second spot. Just a lap later, he overtook Alpine driver Ocon on track and disappeared up the road for a famous win, and his first Grand prix victory since June.

Amid criticism of Verstappen’s driving tactics and battles with his championship rival Lando Norris in Austin and Mexico, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner reckons that the reigning champion showed the right response with his drive in Brazil.

“There have been a lot of comments that have been made and opinions that have been voiced against Max and the way he drives, and I think the best way to answer those critics was to produce the drive that he did.

“You know when to put an arm around him, but he’s not that kind of driver. He works it out for himself, his mental resilience is huge, and that’s part of the strength that he has.

“But you can see how much it meant to him. I don’t think I’ve seen him that animated on a podium for, I can’t remember the last time, so it meant a huge amount to him. And I really believe that we’ve witnessed one of the great drives in F1.”

Following the misfortune race for Norris, Verstappen finds himself now 62 points clear of Lando Norris with only three more races left in 2024.

Horner commented: “I just want clean races, that’s all. I am not thinking about clinching the championship in Vegas or whatever.”