Horner: Verstappen now ranked alongside best-ever F1 drivers

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has stated that Max Verstappen deserves to be listed among the best drivers in Formula 1 history.

The Dutchman took his third F1 title this year after dominating the campaign by winning 19 out of the 22 Grands Prix staged.

Verstappen now ranks third all-time in F1 race wins, with only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher having more victories in their careers.

His dominant stretch this year following another one-sided campaign in 2022 - an achievement that Horner admitted he wasn't sure Verstappen could top.

“Max has just been incredible this year,” he told media including RacingNews365. “I don't think any of us thought after 2022 that we'd manage to better that.

“It has broken all records, it's smashed the records. And I think just as a driver, the way he's grown, he's just constantly evolving.”

Horner continued: “His capacity within the car just gets greater and greater, to read a race, to be able to look after the tyres, to know when are the key moments to absolutely deliver.

“Time and time again, he's done that. The way he works with the team, and you can see that since winning the championship back in Qatar, he's not lifted off at all.

“With the records that he's now achieved, becoming the third most-winning driver in Formula 1, a three-time World Champion, with the statistic of most wins in a season, and everything that he's done, you have to start to talk about him amongst some of the greatest names in the sport.

“I think he's earned his position there. And what's phenomenal is that he's done it at 26 years of age. He's got a lot of racing still ahead of him.”