Max Verstappen is still "evolving", according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, as the Dutchman continues his march towards successive Formula One world championships.
After winning the French Grand Prix for a second year in a row, Verstappen holds a 63-point lead over Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at the top of the drivers' standings.
Another title for the reigning champion looks inevitable after he posted six victories in his last nine races, and Verstappen's 2021 rival Lewis Hamilton recently claimed it will be "smooth sailing" for the 24-year-old this year.
Speaking to Eurosport, Red Bull boss Horner hailed Verstappen's development as he suggested the Dutchman ranked among the best drivers to ever feature for the team.
"I think he's very much a mature package now," Horner said. "He's got experience behind him but he's still very, very young.
"He's hugely talented and is using his experience, using his head and his drive, his determination is undiminished.
"So he's just evolving still as a person and as a driver.
"It's very difficult to compare drivers. We've had some amazing drivers but he is certainly right up [there]."
While Verstappen looks likely to cruise to the drivers' title, Red Bull also hold a commanding 82-point advantage over Ferrari in the battle for the constructors' championship.
Although Red Bull are clear favourites to end Mercedes' eight-year stranglehold on the team prize, Horner says he is simply taking it one race at a time.
"The target is to keep building on what we've achieved. There are no finite targets," he added. "It's just about race-by-race, season-by-season and giving him [Verstappen] a car that his talent warrants.
"I still get the same buzz driving into the track on race morning that I did, even when I was driving myself many years ago. It's the competition, going up against the best teams in the world. You need to be at the top of your game.
"It's a team sport, the biggest team sport in the world. If you're lucky enough to win a grand prix, it means every single person within that organisation is doing and fulfilling their part and role."
Verstappen and Red Bull will bid to extend their fine run of form at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Lando Norris says drivers should receive ‘harsher penalties’ for blocking
Lando Norris has called for stronger punishments to be dished out for blocking other drivers after Max Verstappen escaped grid sanctions at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Verstappen was under three separate investigations following qualifying – one for stopping at the pit lane exit, one for impeding Logan Sargeant and another for getting in the way of Yuki Tsunoda in Q2 – but only received a 5,000 euros (£4,308) fine.
Norris believes that more responsibility should be placed on the driver to avoid such incidents.
“I think the blocking one on track should have been a penalty,” Norris said ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
“If you block someone, it is not just down to the team – I know the team got a fine – but it should be down to the driver as well.
“You have to look in your mirrors. You have nothing else to do the whole lap but look in your mirrors and it seems like a lot of people struggle to do that.
“There should be harsher penalties for blocking. So many people do it.
“It ruins your lap, ruins your qualifying. It put Yuki out in qualifying, he was P1 in Q1.
“Nobody seems to care enough. It has happened a lot this season, it has happened to me quite a few times – especially with certain teams – but it is down to the driver to look in the mirror.
“I will probably block someone this weekend now and make myself look stupid.”
Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were both among the cars held up by Verstappen’s wait at the pit exit and the seven-time world champion says there has to be more consistency in the decision making.
“I didn’t really see them, I was in the pit lane when everyone stopped and I couldn’t see what was happening ahead,” Hamilton said.
“We always push and work as closely as we can with the FIA to achieve consistency and there are some variations so we have to continue to work on that.”
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who also held up, added: “I was a bit surprised (there was not a stronger penalty), especially with the one in the pit lane as that could open some quite bad situations in the future.
“It is always an open discussion with the FIA, trying to explain what our point of view is. I am sure we will have that discussion at the briefing.”
Verstappen, who arrives in Japan with a 151-point lead in the drivers’ championship, feels that every incident has to be judged individually by the stewards.
He said: “Every single instance is different.
“The only thing I can say about Singapore is that I explained what happened when I was sitting in the car and the information that was given to me.
“That is all I can do and it is up to the stewards to make that call.”
Jamaican Rallycross sensation Fraser McConnell claims second Extreme E win
Jamaican rallycross sensation Fraser McConnell claimed his second Extreme E victory of the season in Round 8 of the championships in Sardinia, Italy. McConnell and his teammate Cristina Gutierrez, drove a flawless race to take the win for X44 Vida Carbon Racing, the team formed by seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton.
McConnell got off to a great start, taking a wide line into the first turn to sweep past Johan Kristoffersson and Sebastien Loeb. He maintained his lead throughout the race, with Gutierrez bringing the car home 5.813s clear of Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky after the mid-race driver change.
The 25-year-old McConnell was delighted with the team's performance stating, "It's amazing to get a result like this. Cristina and I had our heads down and drove four strong, clean laps in the final. We did everything we could to extract some advantage and find some little tricks to help us go faster than the rest. As always, the team worked tirelessly to ensure the car was in tip-top shape."
The win moves X44 Vida Carbon Racing up to fifth in the standings on 87 points, with just the final leg in Antofagasta, Chile to come on December 2 and 3.
"The Championship is so competitive with so many world-class drivers so to be able to put Lewis Hamilton's team on the top step for round 8 is an amazing feeling," said McConnell. "We're going into Chile with our heads high and hoping for more."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to miss Japanese Grand Prix due to knee surgery
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will be absent from this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as he undergoes knee surgery.
The 51-year-old is set to have an operation in his native Austria to restore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg.
Wolff damaged his knee a number of years ago and blamed it for a cycling accident during Formula One’s summer break which left him with a fractured elbow.
Wolff’s role will be divided between a number of the team’s staff – including driver development director Jerome D’Ambrosio, the Belgian who took part in 20 F1 races in 2010 and 2011, and Mercedes’ long-serving British chief communications officer Bradley Lord – often seen shadowing Wolff at the back of the garage. It is understood Wolff will be on the team’s intercom across the weekend.
Mercedes will head to Suzuka perhaps fearing that their best shot at victory this year may have escaped them following Carlos Sainz’s triumph at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Sainz became the first non-Red Bull driver to win this season – ending the world champions’ unbeaten streak and Max Verstappen’s record run of 10 consecutive victories.
Lewis Hamilton finished third, just 1.2 seconds behind Sainz, after George Russell – who at one point looked likely to win following Mercedes’ roll of the strategy dice – crashed out on the final lap.
Verstappen qualified 11th and finished fifth, 21 seconds adrift of Sainz. But Hamilton fears Red Bull’s lack of speed on the streets of Singapore is because they have already turned their attention to next season.
While Verstappen can now not be crowned champion of the world for a third time in Japan, it is possible he could clinch the title in Qatar on October 8 with five rounds still left.
And asked if Red Bull’s blip provided him with hope Verstappen’s dominance could be coming to an end, Hamilton, 38, said: “If you think about it, they probably haven’t been developing their car.
“McLaren brought an upgrade here. Other teams are still bringing upgrades, and they’re working on next year’s car. They would have definitely migrated to 2024 before us.
“So it is just one of those things. They are so far ahead that maybe they’re not developing their car, while we are still pushing to develop our current one.”
Verstappen, who warned in the build-up to Sunday’s city-state race that the high-downforce street track would not suit Red Bull, said he expects to be back on top in Suzuka.
Wolff, who is likely to return for the Qatar GP, added: “They will be strong again. The track in Singapore was an outlier for us when we were dominant and I have no doubt they will be strong on conventional race tracks.”
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