Christian Horner ‘saved’ by Max Verstappen
“Don’t tell me this cr** now; I need to focus on saving myself and salvaging what’s left.” These were Max Verstappen’s words to his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, after his second pit stop in Hungary, reacting sharply to being told there was no need for a ‘soft introduction’ to preserve the set of tires.
In Budapest, Max Verstappen endured a highly frustrating weekend from his perspective. By the end of the race, he pushed too hard, almost risking a DNF due to a poorly calculated attack on Lewis Hamilton. The maneuver, which aimed for third place, failed and dropped Max Verstappen to fifth behind Charles Leclerc. Red Bull had brought updates to Hungary in an attempt to counter McLaren’s rise, but Verstappen narrowly missed pole position by less than 50 thousandths in qualifying, ending up on the third row behind Oscar Piastri.
At the start, Max Verstappen climbed to second behind Oscar Piastri, ahead of Lando Norris. However, Red Bull’s pit wall instructed him to give up the position to Norris to avoid a penalty after using the asphalt run-off at Turn 1 to stay ahead of the McLaren driver.
At the end of the season, Max Verstappen expressed particular pride in winning the 2024 world title, stating that for 70% of the season, he didn’t have the best car on the grid.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner agreed with the Dutch driver: “Red Bull not being the best car for 70% of the season? Yes, I think that’s an accurate assessment,” Horner told *racingnews365.com*. “From Miami onward, the car was very difficult to drive, and Verstappen showcased his full talent. At Monza, it felt like both championships were slipping out of our hands, but toward the end, we managed to implement some adjustments to restore some performance and balance to the car. This year, Max proved himself to be a true leader, driving the entire team from the cockpit toward the world title.”
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