Christian Horner believes Red Bull Racing would be good to build the long-term future of the team around Max Verstappen, especially with how quick the young Dutchman is at such a young age.
With Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel signed to long-term deals with Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team and Scuderia Ferrari respectively, Red Bull is looking for their own superstar to build a team around, and with Verstappen already a double race winner, Horner believes it is up to them to ensure they give him a regular front-running car to ensure his future lies with the Milton Keynes-based squad.
“I think he can see the strength and depth of the team,” said Horner to Motorsport.com. “He feels comfortable in the team. He’s the youngest grand prix winner, he’s the youngest double winner, he’s the youngest points scorer.
“And Lewis is pretty set at Mercedes, Seb has signed for three years at Ferrari. The obvious thing is to build a team around you. But it’s down to us to provide him with a competitive car.
“We all want to be in a competitive position, and I think that the way we’ve developed this chassis this year, we’ve put a serious amount of performance on the car, and we’ve out-developed our opposition from our starting point to being grand prix winners on merit. We need to keep that trajectory going.”
Horner says Verstappen’s performances and pace is ‘phenomenal’ for someone who has just turned twenty, and he is excited to see what he can do going forward, another reason why he wants Red Bull to build the team around him.
“It’s quite astounding that he’s only just turned 20,” said Horner. “Just look at the following he has in F1 now. He’s one of the most, if not the most popular driver in F1.
“I think he’s growing in all areas. He has so little experience in car racing per se that every weekend he’s learning and getting stronger.
“There’s no shortcut to experience. He’s now close to completing his third grand prix season, and you look at the level he’s performing at, it’s phenomenal, and what’s exciting is what the future holds for him.”
