Red Bull boss praises Verstappen after surprise win in Japan

Suzuka — Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix from pole for the fourth straight year on Sunday but Red Bull team principal Christian Horner thought the Dutchman's 64th race victory was one of his best ever.

McLaren have set the pace this season as Verstappen struggled with the RB21 but the four-times world champion got every inch of performance out of the car in qualifying on Saturday before racing it to victory on Sunday.

“We know that McLarens are very, very fast, and it needed Max to be inch perfect with two very fast McLarens right behind him, and for 53 laps, he made not a single mistake,” Horner told reporters.

“I think that’s one of Max’s best weekends. We literally turned the car upside down, set-up wise, and he’s worked very hard with the engineering team.

“Finally, we were able to give him a car that he could make use of in [qualifying] yesterday, with the most stunning lap, and then convert that today in a straight fight, putting him one point behind in the drivers’ championship.”

Verstappen was delighted with the victory but was clear that the package he had at his disposal was not going to be good enough to compete for a fifth world title.

“We still have work to do, we still have limitations, but knowing these limitations you try to find out how much you can push it,” he said.

“To fight for the title, we need more.”

While Verstappen moved to within a point of Lando Norris in the drivers’ standings, Red Bull are only third in the manufacturer’s championship, 50 points behind McLaren and 14 behind Mercedes.

Horner made the call to bring in Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda as the team’s second driver last week, sending Liam Lawson back to the Racing Bulls feeder team.

Tsunoda started 14th on the grid behind Lawson but overtook the New Zealander and undercut Pierre Gasly at the pit stops to finish 12th.

“I am happy with my performance but I wanted to finish in the points. I was expecting more in my home Grand Prix so it is a mixed feeling,” said Tsunoda.

“I am learning and gaining confidence in the car. I felt controlled. I am happy considering the length of time I had in the car.”

Horner thought Tsunoda would have finished higher had he had a better qualifying session on Saturday.

“He’s given good feedback and finding his feet in the team,” the Englishman said. “We’ll see over the next few races that performance take a step forward.”

Horner was particularly pleased to take the win at a circuit run by Red Bull’s long-standing engine provider Honda in the final year of their partnership.

He was also clear that the team still had plenty of work to do as they depart Japan for the next race in Bahrain, but said they would do so with a spring in their collective step.

“A huge win, particularly here in Japan, running the car in a Honda livery,” he said.

“There’s no bigger motivator than winning and so the injection and motivation provided to the whole team is fantastic.”

Reuters