Red Bull boss Christian Horner has laid down the challenge to Pierre Gasly to prove he deserves to remain at the team next season.

The Frenchman has had a difficult year since stepping up to replace Daniel Ricciardo scoring just 55 points compared to Max Verstappen on 162.

Fourth place at Silverstone suggested some progress had been made but that momentum wasn't continued in Germany although Horner does insist Gasly's seat is safe for now.

“There are no plans to replace Pierre over the course of this season,” he told Sky Sports on Friday.

“He’s got the second half of the year to really get it together ahead of what we do for next year, but we’re not looking at replacing him or switching drivers around.

“It’s really in his court now to get it together and to build on some of the promise we have seen flashes of, he just needs to put it together more consistently.”

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Third place for Daniil Kvyat in Hockenheim had put some pressure on Red Bull bosses to consider that stance.

However, Horner insists Gasly's potential is there.

“All we can do is provide him with the best car we can and give him as much support as we can,” he stated.

“Parts of his race in Hockenheim were very strong, he got Sebastian [Vettel] on one of the restarts around the outside of Turn 1.

“But obviously there were parts of the race that were not so good. The move on [Alex] Albon looked like a misjudgment on his part.

“It’s frustrating from a team point of view because we want both cars scoring points and the Constructors’ Championship is mightily important to us.”