Verstappen in 'form of his life' after Canadian GP win
Monday, 20 June 2022
Red Bull has won seven of the last nine races.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has hailed Max Verstappen for being in the "form of his life" after he extended his lead at the top of the drivers' championship.
Verstappen started on pole at the Canadian Grand Prix and ultimately held off Carlos Sainz to claim his sixth win of the season and mark Red Bull's best start to a Formula 1® season.
Sainz remained within DRS range for the final 10 laps of the race but was unable to make the move stick, with Verstappen holding firm.
Red Bull has now won seven of the nine races so far this season to put themselves 76 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructor's championship.
In the drivers' standings, the win gives Verstappen a 46-point lead over team-mate Sergio Perez, whose race ended prematurely, and Horner believes the reigning world champion is showing the best level of performance so far in his career.
"It wasn't very comfortable at all in those last 10 laps or so because Max just couldn't break the DRS and the Ferrari was very quick in the straight line today," Horner told Sky Sports.
"They could attack the kerbs and stay close but there wasn't a single mistake. We lost communication with the car, it was only one-way traffic where he could hear us but we couldn't hear him.
"All credit to Carlos today, he pushed him really hard. The strategy wasn't clear because we went for that early stop, we felt that was the best route to the end of the race, and then Sainz got a free stop too which set it up nicely for the end of the race. It was super tight.
"We've just got to take each race at time. We've put a great run together and it's great to be heading to Silverstone leading both championships. Max is in the form of his life and doing a great job."
Despite the late surge from Sainz putting Verstappen under pressure, the Dutchman felt it was a "fun" finale.
"It was really exciting at the end – I was giving it everything I had and, of course, Carlos was doing the same," he said.
"I could see he was pushing and charging, but when you're on the DRS it's a lot easier to charge. The last few laps were a lot of fun.
"Luckily, this year, we seem really quick on the straights so that helps a lot."
Making it a win in his 150th #F1 start! 🏆🍾 #CanadianGP 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/pLax9CJV9e
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) June 19, 2022
