Christian Horner claims Max Verstappen was the best F1 driver on the grid even when Lewis Hamilton was the champion

Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen was the best driver in F1 even when Lewis Hamilton was the champion. Horner also lauded Verstappen's ever-evolving and ever-maturing nature.

Verstappen and Hamilton were up against each other for the title in 2021 when Red Bull was finally able to produce a competitor for Mercedes. After a year-long battle, the Red Bull driver won the title, albeit in controversial circumstances in Abu Dhabi.

Since that season, Max Verstappen has not looked back. He won another championship in 2022 and is the favorite to win his third title this season as well.

Verstappen has been considered the best driver on the grid by various F1 pundits as well. Before the 2021 F1 season, however, Lewis Hamilton was considered the best driver on the grid by many in the paddock.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner, however, does not believe that was the case. In a conversation with Racingnews365, Horner was questioned if Max Verstappen has already reached his peak. He responded by talking about how the Red Bull driver has been evolving and improving.

"He's still evolving, still getting better as he gets experience, and he's just become more polished. But that inner drive, hunger, skill and everything that we've seen from day one is still very much there," Horner said.

The Red Bull boss also claimed that Verstappen has been the best driver on the grid in the last three to four years. That effectively takes the timeline back to 2019 and 2020 when Hamilton was the champion. Horner said:

"He's just a much more polished article now. I think he's currently the best driver and has been for the last three or four years."

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Can Max Verstappen retire from F1 at a very young age? Christian Horner gives his take

Max Verstappen has dropped hints that his current contract that goes on for another half a decade might just be his last in F1. He has talked about trying his hand at different racing series as well. All of this has led to speculation around whether the Red Bull driver might retire from the sport at a relatively young age.

Weighing in on the prospect of Verstappen retiring early, Horner said:

"I think Max is the kind of guy that one day will just decide in his mind what he wants to do. But he's 25, he's motivated, he's hungry to achieve a lot more. I do still think he's got quite a few racing years ahead."

Verstappen's current contract runs to the end of the 2028 F1 season. The ever-expanding F1 calendar and the multitudes of changes in the weekend format have led some to speculate that he could leave the grid once his contract ends.

However, it's still hard to predict such a drastic step so many years in advance.