Christian Horner thinks Max Verstappen's coolness under pressure was the most impressive part of his Malaysian Grand Prix victory and a big reason why he is one of Formula One's most exciting young talents.
Verstappen ended his rotten spell of bad luck in style at Sepang's final F1 race, passing Lewis Hamilton early in the race to win, just a day after turning 20 years old. It made him the youngest driver to claim two career victories, following his record-breaking victory in Spain last year.
Before Verstappen's breakthrough F1's youngest winner had been Sebastian Vettel, who won four consecutive titles in a dominant spell with Horner and Red Bull at the start of the 2010s. Horner thinks Verstappen displayed many of the same traits in his resounding victory in Malaysia.
"Max is a very different character to Sebastian but what you see in standout drivers, you see similarities," Horner said. "Where Sebastian was very strong under big pressure moments, Max has that ability too. He was so cool today leading the grand prix.
"He was the coolest guy out there. You see under pressure he is really delivering at a massive level, and this year his performance particularly on a Saturday have been massively impressive. We know that Daniel is one of the best, so to have the two of them pushing each other the way that they are is a dream situation for the team.
Before Malaysia, Verstappen's only podium appearance of the year had been at the Chinese Grand Prix in April, and he retired from seven of the next 12 races. The Dutchman has made no secret of his frustrations this year and has frequently stated that the competitiveness of Red Bull's 2018 car will dictate whether he has a long-term future with the team.
Horner, who has also spent much of the year predicting it was only a matter of time until Verstappen's luck changed, says he deserved it for how he dealt with a frustrating situation.
"When you reflect on his season and look in the detail of it you see that so many grands prix he has been a great position like Baku, Montreal, Spa. When things beyond his control have gone wrong.
"He should have had a huge amount more podiums this year. When it turns for him it will turn in a major way. That is exactly what has happened today, he has put in fantastic drive and showed his ability and class and dominated the race from start to finish.
Horner added: "He has endured so much bad luck this year. He's kept his head down. The race he drove today was truly dominant, and the pass he made on Lewis early on was a key moment. From that moment he controlled the race exceptionally to the finish."