Christian Horner: Fatherhood has Max Verstappen ‘walking a step higher’
Christian Horner heaps praise on Max Verstappen following another breathtaking pole lap in Miami
Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen recently becoming a father has only had a positive impact on the reigning world champion, claiming “he’s walking a step higher”.
Verstappen delivered another masterclass in Miami to take pole position ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Despite a small mistake in the first corner, where he had an oversteer moment, Verstappen produced another legendary lap to take pole position.
Once again, it looked like McLaren had the edge on performance, and without a mistake into the final braking zone at Turn 17, Norris would have been on pole.
Speaking after qualifying, Horner heaped praise on his star driver.
“I mean, as you can see, he is walking a step higher in becoming a father, and welcoming a beautiful little girl into the world,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 in Miami.
“That is a massive thing for him, and as we see time and time again when he crosses that line into the garage and puts his crash helmet on, everything disappears.
“His ability to focus and just deliver is insane, it is really, truly impressive. Like any great sportsman or woman, it is those big pressure moments, it is that last set of tyres, when the pressure is at its most extreme where he has delivered time and time again.
“That is his third pole in six races, and against expectation as McLaren looked like they had us covered in Q2, but it is about going out and delivering the lap.
“Max is a master at that, he’s always been like that under pressure.”
Horner assesses Verstappen’s chances
Horner is hopeful Red Bull’s gamble of running more downforce pays off.
Should it rain, then Verstappen will benefit from this choice.
However, if the race on Sunday is dry, it could leave him vulnerable on the straights.
“Let’s see what the weather does. Maybe we are running a little heavier on downforce than the other guys because we are quick in that first sector, than bleed time in sectors 2 and 3 with that long straight,” Horner added.
“But track position is so important and holding track position is even more important.”
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