Horner: Verstappen in same league as Prost and Senna

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen is in the same league as multiple F1 champions Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

Verstappen is dominating the current campaign, winning 10 of the opening 12 Grands Prix staged so far - including the last eight races in a row.

The Dutchman is on course to take his third F1 title, which would place him on par with Senna's championship tally.

Verstappen surpassed Senna's race-win total earlier this season and is just six victories away from matching Prost's figure of 51.

The two-time champion has often played down the significance of his achievements, insisting his stats are skewed due to more races taking place in the modern F1 era.

But as he bids to become one of the most successful drivers in F1 history, Horner told media including RacingNews365.com his driver is already fashioning himself as an all-time great.

“In terms of the drivers, it's so difficult to compare drivers from different generations but Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, both legends of the sport.

“I think Max is rapidly joining that group, so always difficult to compare different generations.”

Horner prefered Mansell over Prost and Senna

Prost and Senna's F1 rivalry is well documented and known as one of the seismic battles in F1 history.

“They got pretty sparky between the two of them,” Horner said.

“And two alphas is always a difficult one to manage, so it was nice to watch that one from the sidelines.”

But Horner says that it was Briton's Nigel Mansell that he was supporting.

“I was very much in the Nigel Mansell camp, our Nige. It was great racing.

“Nigel was handicapped that year [1988] with an uncompetitive car, unfortunately, but yeah, it's an incredible thing.”