Max Verstappen is improving with every single Formula 1 race at the moment and it has left Christian Horner amazed.
The Dutchman cruised to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, taking the third Grand Slam win of his career to take his overall tally to 40. His first came at the same track on his Red Bul debut in 2016 on that famous day when the two dominant Mercedes drivers took each other out.
Horner has seen a huge improvement in Verstappen since then but insists that he still holds onto traits he possessed when he first joined the team.
“I think in 2016 he was very raw,” Horner told the media after the Spanish GP. “He was hugely fast. hugely naturally talented.
“He still has that natural speed and tremendous ability but I think what he has now is the experience and roundedness and the capacity he has.
“When he’s recognising Helmut Marko’s phone ringing in the car, he’s just got this active bandwidth and the exciting thing about him is that he’s still getting better.”
How far can he go?
Two titles down already and a third surely on its way at the end of 2023, Verstappen would equal the likes of Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet if he were to seal the deal this year.
You have to ask the question of whether he could go on and win more titles than anyone in history. His current deal at Red Bull runs until 2028 and if he wins the title every season until then, he will have secured eight crowns and surpassed Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton in the process.
His ability behind the wheel suggests that is more than possible but he also relies on Red Bull producing cars good enough to win the title every single year. That’s a tall order, especially with regulation changes in 2026, but if anyone can, it’s them.
