Red Bull boss Christian Horner has again dismissed any concerns over Max Verstappen’s future with the team.
Speculation has swirled at different stages throughout 2019 about whether the Dutchman will stay at Red Bull, most recently in Austria when the admittance of performance clauses triggered talk of a Mercedes move.
However, after claiming his second victory in three races last Sunday in Germany, Horner sees it as further proof the team is heading in the right direction.
“I’m totally relaxed about it. I think Max is enjoying driving within the team, he sees the progress that we’re making,” he was quoted by Crash.net.
“I don’t see any risk with that, we’ve just got to keep focusing on getting performance to the car. We’re at the halfway stage of the championship now, we’ve won two races. We’ve had a couple of other podiums.
“I’m surprised the [unsafe pit stop] release of Ferrari [in Germany] looked very similar to the Monaco one to me and the team only got fined. Otherwise, Max would have had another podium in Monaco.”
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Verstappen’s victory at Hockenheim was his first to come in wet conditions and ended a five-year streak of Lewis Hamilton winning rain-affected races.
Nico Rosberg even suggested the 21-year-old is now at a level above Hamilton, while F1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn also lavished praise on Verstappen.
“The Dutchman and his Red Bull delivered an almost flawless performance in Hockenheim,” he said.
“The only two mistakes were a less than perfect start from the front row that briefly dropped him to fourth, and a harmless spin after switching to medium tyres shortly before half distance.
“However, as was the case in Austria, Max didn’t let either misstep impact on his performance, and again as with Austria, he simply got his head down and put his foot down on the way to a masterful seventh career win – and a point for the fastest lap of the race.”
The Briton also thinks Red Bull’s recent success is justifying their decision to change engine supplier.
“The second win for the Red Bull-Honda combination is further reason for them to feel pride in their achievements,” he added.
“They both took a risk teaming up for this adventure, but it already seems to be paying off.”