Christian Horner comes clean on the 'Max Verstappen-specific' nature of the Red Bull car design

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner opened up about the team designing their car centered around Max Verstappen's driving preferences, which can make it difficult for their second driver to adapt. He discussed the specifics of the Dutchman's driving styles, which seemed to be rather unorthodox, but worked perfectly for him.

The Milton Keynes outfit has been accused of designing their car around their star driver Verstappen's preferences considering how well he works with the car compared to his teammates who have almost always suffered, leaving aside a few exceptions. Discussing the same, team principal Christian Horner explained that Verstappen has always preferred a car with a sharp front which could send him into a corner more aggressively. While it seems to work for him, that wouldn't be the case for other drivers because of how unstable the rear gets.

"Max is quite specific what he wants from a car to make it fast and that is generally a very positive front end on the car, very sharp turning. Of course, the consequence of that is it will unsettle the rear of the car and that for a driver is tremendously confident sapping," Horner told Sky Sports.

Horner further explained that although the car gets more tricky to drive for the other driver following this concept, the team almost always goes in the direction of their faster driver.

"So that's where he [Versatppen] excels," Horner added. "That's where he's able to live on a nice edge of adhesion. And he's just constantly asking for more and more front out of the car. And of course that you're always going to follow the direction of your faster driver and that leads the organisation in terms of its development."

Red Bull Racing has almost always served Verstappen with a car that fit his preferences. He has won four consecutive World Championships with the team between 2021 and 2024 and continues to compete at the top of the grid.

---

When Max Verstappen's former teammate opened up about his "unique" driving style

Alex Albon partnered with Max Verstappen in the team during the second-half of the 2019 and the entire 2020 season. However, he wasn't anywhere close to the Dutchman in terms of results and was sacked by the team as they signed Sergio Perez.

As a former driver of the team, Albon, who now drives for Williams Racing, explained the unique driving style that Verstappen follows.

"The first thing is, a lot of people say that car is built around him, he’s kind of like the Michael Schumacher of Ferrari, he’s created this team around him," Albon said (via F1). "Truthfully, the car is what it is, he is very quick, so what ends up happening is… He has quite a unique driving style, it’s not that easy to get along with."

He then also mentioned that Verstappen likes to have a very sharp front-end in the car.

"Everyone has a driving style, I would say my driving style is a bit more on the smooth side, but I like a car that has a good front-end, so quite sharp, quite direct. Max does too, but his level of sharp and direct is a whole different level – it’s eye-wateringly sharp."

Max Verstappen is known for driving aggressively, almost 'throwing' his car into the corner as he approaches, and a sharp front end helps him achieve the same. Although that can unsettle the rear, the 27-year-old does not seem to suffer from it.