Horner doesn't see Mercedes going after Red Bull: "I would be surprised"

Red Bull Racing has regularly disposed of a driver early in recent years. Since 2016, Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon have already been sent packing at the team. Now there are also rumours that Mercedes want to do the same.

Bottas replaced by Russell

It was Britain's Daily Mail that came out with the rumour this week that Mercedes wants to fire Valtteri Bottas and replace him with George Russell before the end of this season. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff immediately denied the rumours, however, but the fact is that Bottas' performance lags far behind teammate Lewis Hamilton.

However, Christian Horner doesn't think it will come to that at Mercedes. "I would be surprised if they switched Valtteri and George midway through the season," the Red Bull team boss told the Independent. "Valtteri has shown he can drive the car very quickly. Circumstances will always arise, so let's wait and see how things develop, but Valtteri has done a great job for Mercedes in recent years."

In the interest of Red Bull

A disappointing Bottas is of course also to Red Bull's advantage. For the first time in years, Max Verstappen's team seems to have a serious chance at the world title. Verstappen is currently only eight points behind Hamilton and in the constructors' standings, there is an eighteen point gap between Mercedes and Red Bull.