The secret behind Max Verstappen’s win in F1 Emilia Romagna GP, according to Red Bull boss. Christian Horner reveals the key to Verstappen’s Imola win.

Christian Horner revealed the key moment of the Imola GP that allowed Max Verstappen to take the win—but not only that.

Max Verstappen won the Imola GP, starting from the second spot on the grid ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The Australian McLaren driver had a better launch than the four-time world champion, but at the first corner, Max Verstappen, using a wider line, managed to forcefully claim first position. However, Christian Horner revealed a secret behind Max Verstappen’s victory at Imola.

From that moment, Max Verstappen dominated the race and was also lucky, as a Virtual Safety Car caused by Esteban Ocon allowed him to pit and extend his lead over the second-placed driver by 10 seconds.

Christian Horner’s words on Max Verstappen’s win at Imola

Christian Horner, speaking to Sky Sport after the race, appeared very satisfied with Max Verstappen’s performance—but not surprised:
“That first corner—wow! But that’s typical Max: if he sees a gap, he goes for it immediately, he’s always very decisive, and in that moment it was either win the race or go out. It was a fantastic first corner. I have to say, compliments to Oscar because he left him enough space, but after that moment we had the race under control, the pace was very strong, the strategy and the pit stops worked very well, a great race from our side.”

If Verstappen wasn’t a surprise for Horner, the race pace was. The Red Bull team principal said:
“We were surprised ourselves by how fast we were in the race. We see how strong they [McLaren] are, but today we definitely had our best race. A great performance.”

Red Bull’s strength
Behind Max Verstappen’s victory, in addition to the Dutch driver’s immense talent, there’s also the hard work of the entire team. Thanks to that, Max Verstappen was able to dominate the Imola GP. Christian Horner admitted:

“I think it’s the strength of our team—everyone works together, and we’re very united and strong. The engineers and staff do a fantastic job, and Max is an incredible driver. Everyone works very hard to bring the performance together, both in the factory and at the track. It’s incredible.” – the Red Bull team boss concluded.