Horner thinks Hamilton should not criticise Albon

Lewis Hamilton indicated after the Belgian Grand Prix that Red Bull Racing lacked a good second driver. Alexander Albon is clearly the weak link in the eyes of the six-time world champion, but Christian Horner defended his 24-year-old driver on Friday.

"It's slightly ironic that Lewis is the guy that's taken him out of two podium positions," Horner said in an interview with Sky Sports. The 46-year-old chief states that Albon is still improving. "Alex is getting stronger, he's improving. The car is tricky this year, I think it's been a little bit trickier than last year."

At Red Bull, they still have full confidence in the Thai driver. "But he's getting to grips with it, and I think his performance on race days, his race craft, his progress through the field, has always been very very strong."

"Alex has really impressed me with his ability to brush himself down and bounce back," Horner noted. "If he's had a bad Saturday then he's come back and driven incredibly well on a Sunday. So he's got that mental resilience, and he's got that racecraft."

Albon knows where to improve

The RB16 is more unpredictable than its predecessors and for a relatively inexperienced rider like Albon this is a lot more difficult to handle. "He works incredibly hard, he's got a very good understanding of what he's doing and what the car is doing, and where he needs to improve", concludes Horner.