Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has hailed Max Verstappen's performance after the Dutchman emerged victorious in the Hungarian Grand Prix. A power unit issue on Saturday meant that Verstappen could only line up 10th on the grid for Sunday's race, but a combination of the Dutchman's racecraft and some clever strategy calls from Red Bull saw him scythe his way through the field to take the lead on Lap 51 of 70. Verstappen's win came despite an early issue with his clutch and a spin on Lap 41 that saw him lose a position, and Horner paid tribute to his driver's performance. "Max was fantastic today," Horner told Viaplay. "We had a little bit of an issue early on, the clutch wasn't behaving quite as expected. "But then it seemed to clear and then we could release him to really attack the cars ahead, and he was on fire, even with his spin."
Horner hails "perfect" race before summer break
Verstappen had been behind title rival Charles Leclerc until Lap 45, when he eased past the Ferrari driver who was struggling on Hard compound tyres. "[Max] was able to make use of the Medium tyre against Charles on the Hard, and then it was really was game on, and the car had great pace today," said Horner. "It's been an incredible race, great to get those points, and Max was absolutely supreme today. "It's the best way to sign off. Two wins in two weeks is the perfect way to go into the into the summer break." With the next Grand Prix not until 28 August, Horner said he was looking forward to the four-week break between races, but stressed that F1 teams' mandatory factory shutdowns do not begin until 5 August, with work still to be done until then. "I think the whole team has deserved a very well-earned break, but that happens on Friday, so we’ve still got a week to do as much as we can before the shutdown," he added.
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