Horner looks out for Mercedes: "They’ll be able to split their options"

Christian Horner is confident that Max Verstappen will be able to finish the Dutch Grand Prix weekend after 300 kilometres of racing. The Red Bull Racing team boss is sure that his Limburg pupil will not be put off by the fantastic atmosphere at Zandvoort.

“It was an amazing performance by Max under massive pressure in front of his home crowd to become the first Dutchman to take pole position at a Dutch Grand Prix", Horner told his employer's official channels. "Max has got a lot of racing experience behind him now and the way he deals with pressure has been outstanding in recent years and he’s done a great job today."

Mercedes with two men up front

The Briton is looking forward to the moment when the lights will go out a little after 3pm and the race at Zandvoort has begun. "It’s a tough track to overtake at and he’s in the best place to start tomorrow’s race so the first part of the job is done. Looking at the start, we have the two Mercedes directly behind Max so they’ll be able to split their options so it’s important we just get our heads down and focus on our own race.”

Verstappen won't have to count on Perez's support, as the Mexican veteran was eliminated in Q1 already. Possibly Pierre Gasly can play a significant role. The AlphaTauri driver will start from P4 on the second row of the grid alongside Valtteri Bottas.