Horner: Verstappen “never panicked” on route to F1 title despite Red Bull loss.

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner praised max verstappenThe Dutch driver’s work ethic and state of mind after winning the 2024 Formula 1 title despite the struggles of his car.

Red Bull’s season got off to a great start with Verstappen winning six of the first nine Grands Prix and finishing 1–2 in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

However, Verstappen subsequently went on a nine-round winless streak – unprecedented for him since the 2020 season – as mclaren while moving towards the front of the field ferrari And mercedes Also struggled to win the race.

“It almost felt like something had changed dramatically,” Horner told Motorsport.com in an interview at the end of the season. “Suddenly three other teams became competitive, and we suddenly started experiencing some issues that became very limiting.

“Then it was a question of ‘and then your equipment is not related to what’s going on on the track’. And that’s when the driver really becomes a key element.

“And Max never panicked. Even on the tough days, he worked long hours with the engineers, really rolled up his sleeves and stuck in. Working behind the scenes on the simulator, spending time with vehicle dynamicists and aerodynamicists, just talking through ‘OK, this is where you are’ requires focus, that’s where the main issue lies with it. Is’, it’s based on what he’s feeling.

“When your equipment is not connected to the circuit, the best understanding you have is the driver. And that’s where Max has been extremely impressive this year – the leadership he’s driven from within the car for the direction we needed to take to address some of the issues.

Horner emphasized the significant impact Verstappen had in terms of technical feedback when the team needed to uncover the source of the RB20’s problems.

“He is very straight forward on the issue of what the limiting factors are and what characteristics the car is giving him that is stopping him from going fast. So, he will point out very clearly: ‘This is where the lap time is, focus on this area.’

“During the middle part of the season, the tools weren’t really correlated with the circuit, and that’s where they played a very important role in giving the engineers key focal areas where they needed to put time and effort into improving.

“And then we saw the car’s performance start to come back at the end of the year.”

Verstappen managed to retain his early lead in the standings and win the title by making fewer mistakes and proving to be more consistent than his main rival. lando norris and other drivers, never finishing a Grand Prix outside the top six.

Horner said his driver’s performance was due to his “tenacious driving, strategy and teamwork”.

“The most special thing this year has been the way Max has driven,” said the Briton. “On the days he couldn’t win, he scored points.

“He adapts to what he has incredibly well. And what he showed this year is really another level of maturity and experience. I thought the races he ran in places like Zandvoort, Singapore – the days when he couldn’t win but was still bringing home hard-earned points – were incredibly important.