Christian Horner discussed Max Verstappen's "brilliant" performance after he won the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix from P17 on the starting grid.
Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen extended his lead in the Championship to 62 points with an incredible victory at the 21st round of the season at Interlagos Circuit.
Although the Dutchman got unlucky during the qualifying and had to start the race from P17, he made his way through the traffic to P1 and ultimately finished more than 19 seconds ahead of all the remaining 19 drivers.
With his performance, Verstappen amazed everyone, including his team principal, Christian Horner, who told the media after the Grand Prix:
"Max put on a masterclass today. He was just brilliant. In these conditions, the driver skill really comes out, and he was in a league of his own.
"As a team, we got all of the strategy calls right, and the car had great pace. What a transformation from this morning when we thought that the top five would have been an incredible drive."
"To come from 17th on the grid and through nearly the entire field, it was an incredible performance and one of Max's very best."
With this victory from P17, the triple World Champion also became the first driver in Formula 1 history to win a race from 10 different starting positions.
Verstappen faced major criticism ahead of the weekend in Sao Paulo for some of his maneuvers from the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, and Horner believes he couldn't have responded in a better way:
"Of course, there have been a lot of comments that have been made and opinions that have been voiced against Max and the way he drives. I think the best way to answer those critics is to produce the drive that he did."