"Ron Dennis was an incredible team principal" - Red Bull's Christian Horner pays homage to McLaren after breaking 35-year-old record

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has paid tribute to McLaren's former CEO and Team Principal Ron Dennis as the Austrian team broke the latter's longstanding record in F1.

The world champions won their 12th race in a row at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday and broke the 1988 McLaren MP4/4's record of 11 consecutive race wins that stood for 35 years. The MP4/4 is considered one of the most dominant cars in F1 history, driven by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, and managed by Ron Dennis.

While speaking with Sky Sports, the Red Bull team boss said:

"As a young kid, I remember watching the McLarens of Senna and Prost achieving that incredible feat. To think we have now bettered that. They were an incredible team and Ron Dennis was an incredible team principal.

"It's something the whole team here in Budapest, in Milton Keynes, and everyone behind the scenes has worked so, so hard for. It will mean so much."

He also commented on the performances of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez:

"Checo drove a great race today. It was a statement drive, showing everyone exactly what he’s capable of and a race like this will give him a huge amount of confidence going into the next race.

"Max was typically phenomenal once again. He’s at one with himself and the car. He has total confidence and trust in the team. What we’re witnessing with him at the moment is a sportsman at the very top of his game. It truly is exceptional."

Max Verstappen chimes in on Red Bull breaking McLaren's record

Max Verstappen, meanwhile, stated that he was really enjoying working with the team and pointed out how difficult it is to win 12 races in a row even if you have a fast car.

In his post-race press conference, the Red Bull driver said:

"Of course, it’s really enjoyable to work with the whole team and to have this kind of success. I think people probably forget how tough it is to win 12 in a row. Even when you have the fastest car.

"It’s easy to make mistakes – or have an off weekend – but I think so far, of course, there were weekends when the gap was probably a bit smaller than we would have liked, but then also we had a few weekends where we also surprised ourselves and had a really good race, for example."

It will be interesting to see how many more race wins Red Bull can add to this tally before the end of the season.