Christian Horner: “We take nothing for granted”

Christian Horner, among Max's 28 Grand Prix victories, where do you place the one acquired in Hungary?

Right up there! Initially, it was the first time I saw him so careful. He found himself a little bit stuck in the middle of the pack, but his pace, the way he handled the problems he had, it was phenomenal. We were going to start the race with the Hard tires because it seemed to be our best chance. However, in the grid lap carried out with Soft tires, Max and Checo had difficulty generating temperature. From then on, we left them in Soft and opted for two stops.

What made the biggest difference between your pre-race predictions and the final result?

The weather was a key factor, and being able to quickly extract cars from the pack was another because we were expecting, like last year, to be stuck for the first quarter of the race. As the drop in temperature forced us to a different strategy, we also had an advantage in terms of grip which we were able to use from the start. Max and Checo quickly broke away from the peloton and it didn't take long for them to have the Ferrari and Mercedes targeted.

When Max returned to 38^e turn, did you expect Ferrari to cover its stop by stopping Charles?

No because Ferrari then had a very different strategy. I guess they were trying to maintain their position on the track, but as soon as they brought Charles in to give him a set of Durs, victory was possible. They found themselves trapped, and that opened up the possibilities for us.

The pilot still had to be able to exploit the situation...

I have a lot of respect for Max's behavior. You know, the way he runs is tough, but fair. There were a lot of tough races between him and Charles in the first half of this championship, and there wasn't a single contact. It's great to see!

What do you say to those who think the championship is over?

I tell them that the points table is indeed favorable to us and that it allows us to start the summer break with confidence, but that there are still many races to go. Ferrari is fast, Mercedes is back in the game and we are not taking anything for granted!

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