Red Bull boss Horner surprised by sizeable championship lead

Red Bull boss Christian Horner praised his team for the "phenomenal" work done in getting them to a sizeable lead in the standings above their Formula 1 rivals.

On Sunday in France, Max Verstappen claimed his seventh win of the campaign to lead Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by 63 points in the standings, while Red Bull lead the constructors' championship by 82 points.

In an interview, Horner admitted the team's performance so far this season was beyond his "wildest expectations".

"Look, if you would have told me that going into last year that with the biggest regulation change in 40 years and with the effort we put into last year's championship, that we'd be sitting here with eight Grand Prix victories, two Sprint victories and leading both championships with 64 and 82 points, that would have been beyond my wildest expectations," said Horner.

"And I think that it is really a testament to the determination, dedication and the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes at the factory.

"Now, we've seen Ferrari are very competitive also this year, we've seen other teams – Mercedes for sure are gathering momentum – but considering that we were probably the last team to transition [development] fully onto this car, it's been a phenomenal job."

Horner was full of praise for Verstappen after another comfortable victory at Le Castellet on Sunday after claiming his ninth podium of the F1 season.

"I think he is driving with great maturity," said Horner. "You can see the way he and Charles are racing each other, there is a real respect between the two drivers.

"It's a shame we didn't get to see how today would have played out because the second half of the race would have been the opposite of the first, where we would have had track position