Christian Horner says that Daniel Ticktum still needs to ‘polish off a few rough edges’ before he is ready to be a contender for a Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda race seat, and the Briton needs to engage his brain before he opens his mouth.
Ticktum has come in for some criticism this week following his own questioning of the recent domination of Mick Schumacher and Prema Theodore Racing within the FIA European Formula 3 Championship, with the German having taken five of the past six victories on offer.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko had earlier in the season linked Ticktum with a 2019 promotion to Toro Rosso, but the youngster will not have enough Superlicence points to do so, and even so Horner feels he still has some development to do in order to be ready for the premiere single seater category.
“He’s a character, he sometimes engages mouth before brain,” said Horner to Sky Sports F1. “He’s a talented driver, but you know, he’s got more development to do before he’s anywhere near Formula 1 level.
“He’s fast, but he just needs to polish off a few rough edges.”
Horner was also full of praise for the way Schumacher, who will have enough Superlicence points to get on the Formula 1 grid should he want to, has come to the fore in recent months, although the German is expected to be racing in FIA Formula 2 in 2019.
“In Formula 3 Mick Schumacher is doing a great job,” said Horner. “He’s been particularly dominant, they’ve obviously got it together the second half of the season, and he’s been the man to beat.”
