Max Verstappen should be at the top of the Formula 1 drivers’ standings, but due to unreliability from his Red Bull car, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc still remains top of the drivers table. Two retirements in the first five races of the 2022 Formula 1 season have cost him important points and the frustration about the technical problems at Red Bull is evident on the world champion’s face, indeed in the paddock it is thought that Max is not happy with Red Bull right now.
Team boss Christian Horner, however, denies any tensions in his racing team that might have been caused by the insufficient reliability so far. Indeed the team boss makes clear with his statement: “We are a team and we are doing this together. And both driver and team are poised for success…
“We push Max, Max pushes us.” he tows the team line. “Max is driving very maturely and really excellently,” Horner says.
“He was already driving at an incredible level last year. He’s picking up where he left off this year.”
And Leclerc in the Ferrari is Verstappen’s biggest adversary so far because the Scuderia has also started the season with a strong car. But Horner already sees himself and his team as winners here:
“I don’t think we thought after last season with the world championship decision in the last race that we would be so strong so early in the [2022] season.”
Leclerc has won twice, and Verstappen three times. In the constructors’ standings, there are just six points between the two top teams after five Grands Prix.
“It’s so close with Ferrari,” Horner says. “I was actually hoping for a less close year after 2021, but it seems like this year could also be decided at the very end. But: the season is still long.”
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