Horner makes Verstappen boast despite F1 'moving around'

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has proudly boasted that Max Verstappen has been the one constant in F1 of late despite it celebrating its sixth different winner of the season on Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton's stunning British Grand Prix triumph provided a champagne moment for the sport as the seven-time F1 champion ended a winless stretching back two and a half years and 56 races.

Remarkably, it is the first time since 2012 the sport has witnessed six different drivers taking the chequered flag such has been the dominance of Red Bull and Mercedes since that heralded occasion.

Hamilton's 104th F1 victory has followed on the heels of Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and George Russell all winning this season.

"I think Formula One couldn't be in a better place at the moment," said Horner, speaking to media, including RacingNews365. "If you look at the last five, six races, we've had Lewis, we've had Lando, we've had Max, we've had Charles. It's moving around."

Unable to resist a gloat, however, Horner added: "The only one that's managed to be there consistently has been Max.

"I think the sport is really in a...you can see by the crowds that it's delivering, and I'm sure Lewis' win was a very popular one in front of a home crowd."

Despite the fallout from the 2021 furore that saw Hamilton denied a record-breaking eighth drivers' championship in controversial circumstances that allowed Verstappen to claim his first, Horner was at least magnanimous in defeat to the 39-year-old following the race at Silverstone.

Hamilton beat Verstappen by 1.5s to bring the curtain down on a 946-day winless drought, and in doing so becoming the first driver in F1 history to the same race on nine occasions.

Regardless of any previous ill-feeling towards Hamilton, Horner said: "We have to congratulate Lewis on winning. I thought he drove a very good race, and he was a deserving winner.

"Of course, a hugely emotional thing, and for any driver to win a race nine times is an outstanding achievement, and to have won it here in the UK, which obviously is very special for him as a British driver, he should be very proud of that.

"So we take our cap off to him. He did a very, very good job."