Horner: Verstappen’s F1 campaign the most dominant I’ve seen

As well as securing his second F1 drivers’ crown in 2022, Verstappen has, with 14 grands prix wins, taken the world record for the most victories in a campaign.

And while single team domination is quite common in grand prix racing, Horner reckons that the nature of Verstappen’s charge stands out this year.

Asked if he felt 2022 was the most dominant campaign from a single driver that he had ever seen, Horner said: “There’s been years of domination with Mercedes, but I think as an individual driver, probably yes. He’s won the most grands prix in a year now, within 22 races.

“On top of that, he’s won two sprint races, and he’s not won all of them from pole position. He’s had to fight and race for a lot of those victories.

“I think when we look back at the end of the year, it is an absolutely outstanding year that Max has driven. He hasn’t put a wheel wrong. He’s been perfect throughout the season. It’s incredible the level of consistency that he’s been able to achieve.”

Red Bull celebrates Max Verstappen's second world title in Japan.

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

With Red Bull having won the constructors’ championship, its title double is the first since the glory years it enjoyed with Sebastian Vettel from 2010 to 2013.

Comparing the two drivers, Horner reckons that Verstappen is not given the praise he deserves considering just how well he is performing right now.

“They are two very different drivers, two phenomenally successful drivers,” he said. “I think that what Sebastian has achieved in his career puts him amongst one of the greats and most successful drivers in the sport.

“But I think Max, what we’re seeing today and this year, we’re actually witnessing something very special. I actually think his achievements sometimes don’t receive the plaudits that they should, because I think actually, what we’ve witnessed this year, is an absolutely outstanding performance from a driver that is very much at the top of his game.”

Horner also believes that Red Bull deserves some credit for having helped produce the cars and performance to have allowed drivers like Verstappen and Vettel to shine.

“There’s a lot of people sitting around the engineering office and the garage, and back at the factory, that are all the same people that did that with Sebastian that are doing it again with Max,” he said.

“I think the DNA of our team is that we’re a race team. We’re a team of racers, we push the boundaries. We’re aggressive in the way that we go racing, and we follow our passion, which is to go out there and do our very, very best. We are following Dietrich’s [Mateschitz] mantra of no risk, no fun.”