Christian Horner explains why Max Verstappen’s “abnormal” driving style destroys his team-mates
The narrative surrounding Red Bull Racing over the last half-decade has consistently featured a rotating cast of drivers struggling - and often failing - to survive alongside Max Verstappen. Former team principal Christian Horner recently provided a technical explanation for the phenomenon. Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Horner revealed that the infamous "curse" of the second Red ...…
Red Bull's ongoing struggles with team-mates following Max Verstappen's arrival have been attributed by former team principal Christian Horner to Verstappen's unique and demanding driving style. Horner explained that Verstappen is particularly demanding in terms of the car's physical inputs, possessing an exceptional ability to balance a loose rear end while maintaining hyper-responsive steering.
This allows Verstappen to extract maximum lap time from the chassis, leading to a technical development path focused on achieving this characteristic in the car. While Verstappen's performance has resulted in multiple world championships, team-mates who rely on a more traditional and predictable car balance have found it difficult to trust and effectively handle the machine.
As Horner put it, driving the second Red Bull is not only a challenge against Verstappen but also against a car engineered to cater to Verstappen's abnormal driving preferences.
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