Paying tribute to his group because it notches up win quantity 100, Christian Horner admits that it’s attainable the Austrian outfit might win each single race this 12 months.
Sunday’s win noticed Purple Bull notch up its one hundredth Grand Prix win from 355 begins. Whereas this can be a vital achievement, placing the Austrian outfit into the High 5 of the game’s winningest groups, the massive query many are asking is might Purple Bull win all 22 of this 12 months’s races.
Because it stands, Max Verstappen has accomplished all 487 of the season’s laps so far – as have Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, whereas Sergio Perez has accomplished all however 2 laps.
Nevertheless, whereas Verstappen has by no means completed decrease than the second step of the rostrum, teammate Perez has solely made it on to the rostrum 4 occasions, and in Monaco failed to attain a single level.
Granted, the stats are spectacular, however might Purple Bull do the seemingly unimaginable and win all 22 races?
“Can we? Sure. Will we? Who is aware of?” laughs Christian Horner.
“There’s so many variables on this recreation,” he continues, “we’re simply taking issues one race at a time.
“The group are doing an unimaginable job, Max is driving out of his pores and skin as effectively in the meanwhile, so simply collectively the group are doing an incredible job.”
“To get a century of victories, for the entire group, is an unimaginable achievement,” he instructed Sky Sports activities, “not simply right here however for all of the individuals, the women and men again within the group that put in all of the lengthy hours.
“100 races is so much, however 100 wins, that is 27 per cent of all of the races that we now have entered, we now have gained, it’s an unimaginable statistic.”
In fact, 41 of these 100 wins come courtesy of Max Verstappen, asnd Horner was equally eager to pay tribute to the teenager.
“What we’re witnessing with Max is the emergence of one other mega expertise,” he mentioned. “You can begin speaking about him in the identical sentence because the greats now after he matched Ayrton Senna.
“Max simply retains delivering at such a excessive degree. The race was implausible however to take pole place in situations that have been regularly altering, his means to adapt to no matter grip degree he had, was Max at his finest.”
The 100 wins places Purple Bull fifth by way of the checklist of all-time grand prix winners, whereas Sunday’s victory places Verstappen joint-fifth with Ayrton Senna by way of drivers.
“A part of him inside will likely be fairly happy with that,” mentioned Horner. “I don’t suppose he’s one to point out enormous emotion. He’s a really modest man. He’s very understated in some ways. However behind the scenes it is going to imply rather a lot to him.”
