Red Bull Boss Shares the Ultimate Moment He Realized Max Verstappen’s Potential in F1

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Anirban Aly Mandal

Oct 8, 2022 | 2:40 AM EDT

Red Bull Boss Shares the Ultimate Moment He Realized Max Verstappen’s Potential in F1

Add us on Google

Anirban Aly Mandal

Oct 8, 2022 | 2:40 AM EDT

Only one word can do justice to what Max Verstappen has been ever since he made his debut in Formula 1 – sensational. However, his boss Christian Horner has an anecdote to share that exemplifies what made Max Verstappen the right choice for Red Bull.

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Max Verstappen joined Red Bull in 2016. He was promoted to the senior team after a year-long stint with Torro Rosso. However, he made his debut with Red Bull in Spain in the most Verstappen-esque way possible. He won! But Horner knew what Verstappen was capable of long before his debut win at Barcelona.

According to Horner, “What stood out was Spa, when he drove round the outside of Felipe Nasr.” He went on to explain, “I thought: ‘This boy is properly brave, committed and quick.’ You saw it that season, he was a shining star. It was evident immediately he was a prodigious talent.”.

Christian Horner may have had an inside line into Verstappen‘s talents. However, he was also very articulate about why he believes Verstappen to be a great World Champion.

Christian Horner proclaims Max Verstappen “doesn’t crave adulation” and only “loves racing”

Max Verstappen is on the verge of becoming a double-World Champion at Suzuka this Sunday. However, according to his boss at Red Bull, the Dutch Lion is above all the fame and adulation that comes along with being such a revered icon of the sport.

He began by stating, “He hasn’t changed despite all the adulation he is receiving.”. He then went on to emphasise on why he thinks Verstappen is a great racer but also a great champion. “You often see personalities change, they become divas. Max is fundamentally the same lad that turned up six years ago, I don’t think he will ever change. He is at ease with himself. He doesn’t crave adulation, he loves his racing. He is fundamentally just a racer.”.

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Will Max Verstappen go down in the annals of Formula 1 history as the greatest World Champion ever?

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Anirban Aly Mandal

1,126 Articles

Anirban Aly Mandal is a senior F1 writer at EssentiallySports, with over 1000 articles published on the platform. Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 while playing on his computer, and he has since then dived deep into the world of motorsports. Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to F1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim-racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. He's also a fan of the PES series and other sporting and non-sporting games. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature, music, and Anglo-Saxon history.

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Ankit Sharma