The 24-year-old Dutchman, who started from 14th place on the starting grid after being penalized for an engine change, took a sumptuous victory ahead of his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez, who started in second position.

"An amazing performance," greeted the husband of ex-Spice Girl Geri Haliwell, for once in unison with the entire paddock.

Horner was full of praise for Verstappen, who took a blistering 93-point lead over Pérez in the Drivers' Championship, with Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) now third, 98 points as he only eight races remain by the end of the season.

“You are witnessing a driver who becomes one with the car and who is in a state of grace in his career,” he said.

"Since winning the championship last year, Max has taken another step forward. He has liberated himself in many ways and is now driving at an incredible level," said the Red Bull team principal. .

"Max was simply above the rest of the competition and not just in the race, but all weekend," he added.

Horner claimed Verstappen's win was one of Red Bull's "greatest ever performances" in F1 since 2005.

His special adviser Helmut Marko assured him that Verstappen only needed "two or three" additional victories to "be safe" and secure the drivers' and constructors' titles.

"The objective for us now is clear, because we want to finish first and second in the championship (drivers) for the first time in our history," stressed the Austrian.

Both men also ironically thanked Mercedes for pushing for the new technical directive introduced to control the 'porpoising' of single-seaters, prone to rebounds since the start of the season, and which has seen Red Bull increase its dominance over its rivals. .

"A priori, I should thank Toto (Wolff, Mercedes boss, editor's note) for the TD (technical directive)... But, more seriously, I think this circuit worked in our favor", joked Horner.

"Maybe it hurt others more than ourselves, so we didn't change the way our car works," he said.

Verstappen avoids carnage

Horner also insisted on Verstappen's maturity as the Dutchman "safely" navigated the chaos of the first lap, which notably saw Lewis Hamilton retire after colliding with Fernando Alonso's Alpine.

"He wasn't greedy at the start, he was very patient, especially at Eau Rouge, and he just chose his path," he said.

"I was trying to stay out of it all, but you don't want to waste too much time either," Verstappen explained.

"It was super hectic and there was so much dirt too. I took off my visor protection because I couldn't see almost anything and everyone was going on grass, on gravel," he said. it detailed.

Another stroke of luck this year for Leclerc, already not spared by Ferrari's own strategic mistakes, the protection removed by Verstappen got stuck in the brake scoop of his right front tire, forcing him to pit prematurely, which ruined his chances of victory.

The end of the season therefore looks a priori like a walk in the park for Red Bull and its prodigy, well on their way to ending Mercedes' series of eight consecutive constructor titles.

Coming to Zandvoort this week for the Dutchman's home GP, the Milton Keynes team leads with 10 wins and 475 points against four wins and 357 points for Ferrari.

A new Verstappen Festival is expected in the sand dunes of Holland on Sunday.

© 2022 AFP