Red Bull team boss compares Max Verstappen to Michael Schumacher
Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner sees qualities in Max Verstappen that remind him of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
Horner praises Verstappen for his ability to stay competitive, even when the car isn’t performing at its best. At the same time, he admits that Verstappen’s skill has hidden some of the problems with the RB20 car.
Horner explained that Red Bull first noticed issues with their Formula 1 car in 2023, but since Verstappen kept winning races, the team didn’t raise concerns. It wasn’t until 2024 that the full extent of the problems became clearer.
“Max’s unique ability to handle problems reminds me of Schumacher in the 1990s,” Horner said on the F1 Nation podcast. “Schumacher could drive a car better than anyone, even when others found it difficult.”
“Max has that same talent. He can just work through the car’s issues. We only really saw the true extent of it at Monza, where the connection between the front and rear axles was far worse than we expected, and the performance didn’t match our simulations,” Horner added.
