Christian Horner outlines Max Verstappen’s F1 2022 title defence preparations

Christian Horner has outlined Max Verstappen's plan of action over the coming days and weeks. The Briton claims the team has now shifted its focus to the 2022 season, claiming the 2021 championship victory is now history.

Max Verstappen won his maiden world title on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December, narrowly beating seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Since then, the Dutchman has taken some well-deserved time off to spend with friends and family.

Christian Horner claims Verstappen has begun training for the 2022 season, starting in January, and has returned to his normal routine. He told RacingNews365.com:

"It was a tough season last year, tough for everybody, so [it was] good to get a bit of downtime over Christmas and the New Year to reflect on an amazing year and recharge the batteries a bit. Then, in January, he's been ramping it back up and training hard and looking forward to the season ahead."

The 24-year-old is set to return to the Red Bull factory in the next few days, where he will put in time on the simulators ahead of the RB18 car launch later in February. The team has teased the highly-anticipated car on social media. Horner said of Verstappen's return to the factory:

"He'll be in the next week or so. Obviously, this time of year there's a lot of work in the simulator, so it's a lot of work in a virtual world.Then there will be seat fittings and all that kind of stuff to do, with merchandise and this, that and the other, so from the last week of January things will start to get busy for him."

Max Verstappen's 2021 saga has ended, says Christian Horner

Christian Horner was quick to point out that while the whole team took their time to celebrate Max Verstappen's maiden title win in Abu Dhabi, they are now completely focused on the 2022 season.

The Briton claims the "hangover" has passed and the whole team is ready to give it their all again for the new season. For now, though, their focus is on the upcoming car reveal and pre-season testing, both scheduled for February.

"We're totally focused on 2022 now. 2021 is done. We'll celebrate the fact that we have number 1 on the car, but 2021 is history now. It's all about 2022, so everyone is focused on the shakedown, the first test, the first race and 2022 after that."

The veteran team principal made reference to Verstappen's choice of car number in 2022. The Dutchman has chosen car #1 instead of #33 in 2022 as defending world champion. No driver has used that number since Sebastian Vettel in 2014.

But Max Verstappen will be hoping he doesn't suffer the same fate as the former Red Bull driver, as he failed to defend his title successfully. Only time will tell.