Verstappen victory a "monumental team effort" says Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has lauded the "monumental team effort" behind Max Verstappen's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix victory.

In scorching conditions, the Red Bull RB16 proved to be far softer in its tyres than the Mercedes W11, a fact Verstappen was able to exploit to the fullest.

Although the drivers traditionally take the lions share of the credit for a victory, Horner was keen to share the goodwill with the entire team.

The team boss said: "This victory is thanks to a monumental team effort from everyone trackside, in the factory and also Honda.

"We’re making great strides and days like today show we’re going in the right direction and now we need to harness this potential moving forwards."

After the 2020 season began with four consecutive Mercedes victories, fears had grown that the Silver Arrows would run unopposed at the front of the order.

Whether the result is a quirk of the warmer temperatures, the softer tyres, or a mix of both will become clear as the season progresses.

Focussing on the moment, Horner added: “Today is an amazing day for the Team with Max putting in a dominant performance in the race.

"After taking a risk in qualifying yesterday and electing to start on the hard tyre, Max made it pay dividends with great race pace in the first stint.

"To our surprise and encouragement, when Mercedes pitted for new tyres we still had better pace on our used hard set. We then switched our strategy to go onto the medium once we got a pit stop clear of Mercedes and re-emerged just behind Bottas who Max re-passed within a couple of corners.

"Max then covered Bottas off by going onto his remaining hard tyre to the end of the race by which point he was fully in control to score his ninth victory."

Horner also had some words for Alex Albon, the Red Bull driver having been criticised in the media for recent poor performances.

Horner said: "Alex also put in another very strong race today with some great passes, particularly around the outside of Copse as he progressed through the field decisively to finish a very competitive fifth place.

"First and fifth today is great constructors points and moves Max up to second in the Drivers’ Championship."

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