Max Verstappen ‘on another planet’ after winning the Chinese Grand Prix

(CNN) — Max Verstappen is riding “on another planet”, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, after the three-time world champion dominated the crash-filled Chinese Grand Prix to claim another victory.

“His form is fantastic,” Horner told Sky Sports. “He’s completely at one with the car and has this incredible feeling and empathy for the car… He also has an incredible racing brain, so what he’s capable of is almost inhuman… He’s essentially writing history.”

Verstappen has won every race this season except the Australian Grand Prix when he was forced to retire, maintaining his record from last year’s season when he won 19 of 22 races.

Such is his dominance that he finishes every Grand Prix with a comfortable lead: on Sunday he crossed the line almost 14 seconds ahead of second-placed McLaren’s Lando Norris, who recorded the 15th podium finish of his career. Verstappen’s teammate, Mexican Sergio Perez, finished third.

Christian Horner praised his driver’s continued dominance. (Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Verstappen led almost the entire race, avoiding chaos behind him, including a virtual safety car that became a full safety car caused by Valtteri Bottas’ Kick Sauber engine failure and problems getting his car off the track.

Just before the restart, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll collided with RB’s Daniel Ricciardo from behind, triggering another safety car and further shaking up the race.

“I think we survived the restarts well,” Verstappen said afterward, according to the official Formula 1 website. “The car was practically on rails, I could do whatever I wanted with it and a weekend like this is amazing, of course, and of course to achieve what we achieved this weekend is fantastic.”