Christian Horner says Max Verstappen is doing something behind the scenes at Red Bull that’s ‘world-class’

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Max Verstappen wouldn’t have dreamt of a better Saturday at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Although he didn’t have the Sprint Race all his own way, he quickly retook the lead after Lando Norris overtook him in the opening stages and his move allowed Oscar Piastri to sneak past as well, further stretching his gap at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

The young Australian was unable to challenge him for victory in the end and he comfortably came home to take yet another Sprint Race win.

Max Verstappen then had to set his sights on qualifying and he was in a different league to the rest of the grid throughout the session.

Nobody could get close to the triple world champion and it speaks volumes that he was nearly a second faster than teammate Sergio Perez in the final session.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the session about the Dutchman.

Not only was he amazed by what the 26-year-old did on the track, but Horner also described what Verstappen has been doing behind the scenes in the Red Bull garage that he thinks is ‘world-class’.

It’s making all the difference on the track as McLaren have well and truly closed the gap to the current Constructors’ champions.

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Christian Horner says Max Verstappen is doing ‘world-class’ work in the garage

Speaking after Verstappen’s dominant pole position lap, Horner said: “Do you know what? It’s an absolute pleasure to see the level that he’s driving at.

“And when he comes in, he’s talking about the details that he’s going into with his engineer and knowing exactly what he needs and where he needs it, yet he’s only talking about a quarter of a tenth or half a tenth.

“The fidelity that he seems to have is outstanding and absolutely world-class.”

It’s no surprise that Verstappen is a perfectionist off the track and fully understands that those margins could make all of the difference.

Verstappen seems to be at one with the RB20, which is in stark contrast to his teammate Sergio Perez who once again struggled to get anywhere near the Dutchman.

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Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez having very different 2024 season

While Max Verstappen continues to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship over his nearest rivals, Perez is attempting not to slip further down the standings.

Last season, Perez was the first Red Bull driver to achieve the coveted one-two in the championship although he was hundreds of points behind Verstappen.

That season demonstrated how dominant the car was as Perez had a worrying mid-season slump that saw him struggling to reach Q3 and missing out on the podium more often than not.

This year appeared to start much more positively for Perez, finishing second to Verstappen in three of the first four races.

However, once again Perez’s form has fallen away and given the grid has converged this year, it’s meant he’s tumbled down the order.

It’s been suggested that Perez simply can’t deal with the changes and updates brought to his car every year.

Those changes are almost certainly led by Verstappen and the work he’s doing with his engineers in the garage.

The Dutchman is obsessed with racing – as his simulator sessions away from F1 prove – and appears to fully understand every aspect of his car.

It makes him an increasingly difficult driver to beat and is showing Red Bull the full potential of Perez’s car that he’s not able to extract.