Horner Feels Verstappen is Still Learning

Max Verstappen’s promotion to Red Bull after Kvyat’s disastrous performances in 2016 had seemed premature at the time. But he had seemingly alleviated all those fears when he won on debut, showing opportune instincts after the Mercedes cars crashed into each other.

But now in his third year with Red Bull, Verstappen has had many retirements, due to mechanical reasons but also because of his own doing. That has reached an all-time high this season, wherein he has clashed with the current top three in the drivers’ standings at different races.

But team principal Christian Horner feels that he is still going through the motions and learning how things work in F1. He said, “Max arrived in F1 very quickly so he is doing his learning in a very public arena and is in a front-running car very quickly.”

“Most guys would’ve gone through some of this in the lower formulas that you wouldn’t have even seen, whereas he is having to deal with it in a very public arena. I’m sure he will emerge from it on the other side”, added the Briton.

Horner also believes that Verstappen can deal with his issues but could take inspiration from across the garage. “The only person who can address it [his performances] is Max. He has a very good teacher in the car next door to him. The Monaco weekend was very painful for him.”

“He is very aware. We talk weekly. Of course what frustrates him is that he’s working harder than ever, feels fitter than ever and it feels like he’s just trying a bit too hard at the moment. When you get into a spiral and try harder, I think you just need to hit the reset button”, Horner added.

Verstappen is surely very talented but his immaturity has reared its head in a number of occasions. But he will be looking to put all that behind him and start on a fresh note when the F1 contingent arrives at Canada in the weekend.