Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has suggested recent comments made by junior driver Dan Ticktum prove he has a lot of maturing to do before he can consider Formula 1.
The young Briton was thought to be an option for Toro Rosso in 2019 if he could amass enough superlicence points but that now appears unlikely after falling 49 points behind Mick Schumacher in the European F3 series following last weekend's meeting in Austria.
Later, Ticktum would launch a tirade against the German hinting his recent run of wins was suspicious and that he was being disadvantaged because his name isn't Schumacher.
“He is a character,” Horner told Sky Sports in Sochi responding to the claims. “He sometimes engages mouth before brain.
“He is a talented driver, but he’s got more development to do before he is anywhere near F1 level.
“He is fast, but he needs to polish off a few rough edges.”
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On the contrary, the Red Bull chief was more than happy to praise Schumacher for his recent run of five consecutive wins, which was only ended by a second place in the third race in Spielberg.
“In Formula 3 Mick Schumacher has been doing a great job," he said. "PREMA have been particularly dominant in the second half of the season.
“They have obviously got it together and he is the man to beat. It very much looks like he is favourite to win that championship now.”
With Ticktum out of the running for Toro Rosso then, it would appear that Pascal Wehrlein is a likely contender for the second seat alongside Daniil Kvyat, who has arrived in Sochi ahead of an anticipated announcement of his return.
Although, some doubt may have been cast after the German was seen testing a Mahindra Formula E car on Friday.
