Montreal, Jun 21 (IANS): Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has lavished praise on Max Verstappen's victory at the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix, saying the win is nothing short of a "masterclass" act of prolific racer.

Having started the Montreal race from pole position, Verstappen appeared to have the upper hand throughout the Grand Prix, despite falling behind Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz midway through when Red Bull opted to pit the reigning champion again.

But Sainz pitted under a subsequent Safety Car -- brought out when AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda crashed into the Turn 2 barriers after exiting the pits, which gave Verstappen track position.

The Dutchman then brilliantly held off the assault of Sainz for the final 16 laps to claim his fifth win in six races -- and sixth in nine Grands Prix so far this year.

"Max, you know he's just been dominant all weekend and the amount of pressure he had to soak up in that last 15 laps after the (Safety Car) was really impressive," said Horner.

"He was super-cool, and we had a radio issue as well; I think he could hear us but we couldn't hear him. But the way he managed the race, the way he controlled the pace, the tyres, was a masterclass," Horner added.

Asked if Verstappen -- now 46 points ahead of Perez in the drivers' championship -- and Red Bull -- 76 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors' -- were beginning to feel comfortable at the head of the standings, Horner said, "Look, we've got to take each race at a time; we've put a great run together, it's great to be heading to Silverstone leading both championships, Max is in the form of his life, the team are doing a great job."