According to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, Max Verstappen’s maiden Formula One title was made more significant by the fact that he had to beat an in-form Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen took advantage of a late safety car restart to pass Hamilton and win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, securing him the title.
Despite the fact that the race ended in controversy, with Mercedes protesting the result because the FIA did not follow its own rules in timing the safety car restart, Red Bull believes the incident should not overshadow the campaign.
With Verstappen having won ten races this season and being the first driver in the turbo hybrid era to beat Mercedes, Horner felt Verstappen was a deserving winner.
And he believes it was crucial that the title was won through hard effort and skill rather than because Hamilton and Mercedes were off form.
“I think you have got to look at this championship on balance over 22 races,” explained Horner.
“Max has been truly outstanding this year. I think that he got unlucky at times, but he always kept his head down.
“He’s driven with heart, with passion, with great skill, and determination. And I think he’s a really deserving, world champion.
“I think that the fact that he’s managed to take on and beat Lewis, who obviously is a formidable and the most successful driver of all time, only makes it even more valuable.
“I think all credit to Lewis. This season he has driven again outstandingly well and I’m absolutely delighted with the result.”
In the final stages of the Abu Dhabi race, Horner told Sky that Verstappen required a miracle to win the championship, with Hamilton looking comfortable in the lead.
Even he admitted that he could not have predicted how things turned out.
“I think I said we needed something from the racing gods, and they answered: so thank you to them,” he said.
“Look, we’re just incredibly proud of Max. You have to remember he’s a young man that’s living his dream. He’s taken on the best in the world, the best statistically that there’s ever been.
“He’s fought tooth and nail every single grand prix, and he’s been outstanding this year. For a 24-year-old to do what he’s done, I think that’s pretty impressive.”
Horner stated that the events of Sunday had left him feeling a range of emotions, from witnessing Verstappen’s bad start to annoyance over F1 race director Michael Masi’s first lap call about Hamilton cutting across a corner, to the final safety car decision.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster,” said Horner. “It started with a bad start and Lewis getting a great start, and they had a bit more pace than us today.
“They elected to do a one stop, and we went on to the two-stop. And then, when [Nicholas] Latifi crashed, we obviously elected to take another set of tyres.
“They got the race going again and Max had to make it count. He had one lap to do it and he nailed it.
“There was the elation of that moment and then obviously the [protest] summons started coming through for the safety car, and then another one for other stuff.
“So it was a tense couple of hours. But hats off to the FIA and the stewards who I believe have made the right decisions.”
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