Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner claims that it will be tough for anyone to beat Max Verstappen in the RB19 after his record-breaking win at the Italian Grand Prix. The driver and car combination is one of the most successful in the history of F1, with Verstappen claiming 10 wins in a row with victory at Monza to break the record of nine straight wins set by Sebastian Vettel in 2013. Horner thinks it will take a lot for anyone to beat Verstappen in his current form, with the World Champion taking 12 wins from 14 races this season. "I don't think there's anybody in the world right now, that could beat Max Verstappen in this car," Horner told media, including RacingNews365. Ferrari was close to challenging Verstappen for the win, with Carlos Sainz displaying enough straight-line speed in the SF-23 to defend from any move from the soon to be triple World Champion. When asked if he felt the Dutchman was nervous, Horner reassures that he was under control: "I wouldn't say nervous, but I would say you could definitely feel that his focus was razor sharp - more than usual. "You could see that it [record] definitely meant something to him."
Verstappen managing issue
After the race Verstappen revealed that he was nursing a problem with his RB19 towards the end of the race, which is why he was reluctant to overtake any more lapped cars other than the two Haas drivers. "We were just managing some temperature issues, we just didn't want to take any any risk on a stinking hot day," explained Horner. "But there was a bunch of cars ahead of Pierre Gasly and we just didn't want to run in dirty air, so that's why we took it a little bit easier in the last few laps."
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