Horner: 'Added bandwidth' puts Verstappen at another level

Red Bull chief Christian Horner says Max Verstappen has added to his skills and experience a "bandwidth" as a driver that now puts him at another level in tersm of his development.

Verstappen conquered on Sunday in Barcelona his 40th career win in Formula 1, achieving a lights-to-flag victory at the very venue at which he won his very first race Grand Prix in 2016.

Thirty-nine wins and two world titles have followed since that memorable day at the Circuit de Catalunya, all achieved with Red Bull.

Asked after Sunday's race how the Dutchman has changed since his maiden triumph in the sport, Horner pointed to an anecdote from this weekend when he recognized Helmut Marko's ringtone in the background during a radio conversation with his race engineer in free practice.

"In 2016, he was very raw, incredibly fast and hugely and naturally talented," said Horner.

"He still has that natural speed and tremendous ability but what he has now is the experience and roundedness.

"The capacity that he has, when he's recognising Helmut Marko's phone ringing within the car, he's just got this added bandwidth that puts him at another level.

"The exciting thing about him is that he's still getting better."

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• Verstappen: 'A big pleasure to drive with a car like this!'

Verstappen's unwavering domination has delivered to the 25-year-old 14 wins in the last 18 races, a track record that hasn't gone lost on Mercedes boss Toto Wolff

"Verstappen is just on a different level. It pisses me off to say that but that is the reality," Wolff said after Saturday's qualifying.

Asked about the Austrian's comments, Horner sympathized somewhat with his Mercedes counterpart's plight, noting that "losing hurts".

But Horner also underscored that Red Bull's current wave of success is not just down to one element - Verstappen, but rather the sum of its parts.

"I don't pay a great deal of attention to it," Horner said. "What matters is the score sheet at the end of the day, and that's looking pretty healthy.

"We spent seven years trying to get into a winning position and losing hurts.

"We've worked very hard to get into this position, I think the whole team as a unit, and not just Max, is operating at such a high level and we have a phenomenal car.

"We've got two great drivers and Max is just continuing to evolve as a driver, he's just become more and more polished and the capacity he has within the car is truly impressive."

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