Horner backs Verstappen: "Don't see any change in him"

Lewis Hamilton suggested last week that the pressure of a world title might be too much for Max Verstappen. According to the Mercedes driver, his action two weeks ago during the Italian GP might have been a result of that. Verstappen himself quickly dismissed the suggestion and Christian Horner does not agree with the words of the seven-time world champion either.

"I don't see any change in him at all," Horner told Motorsport-Total.com and others during the press conference at the Sochi circuit. The 47-year-old Briton thinks the pressure is more on Hamilton than Verstappen. "He [Max] is a young guy, he wants to make it, he has nothing to lose. He's not sitting there with a bunch of world titles defending, he's the challenger."

Verstappen mentally unbreakable

The 23-year-old Dutchman is mentally rock solid, as he showed during the weekend of the Dutch Grand Prix, for example. "That's the way he's approaching this championship, and when you see the pressure he was under in front of the home crowd at Zandvoort, there's no bigger pressure than that. I think the way he handled it was really impressive," the chief praised his pupil.

The 2021 season is the first year Verstappen can fight for the world championship and really take the fight to rival Hamilton. The seventeen-time Grand Prix winner and Red Bull are in a situation they have never experienced before or for a long time. "It's exciting for him, and it's exciting and motivating for the whole team," Horner said.

Hels job Verstappen

Verstappen is currently five points ahead of Hamilton in the World Cup, but there is a good chance he will no longer be the leader after the Russian Grand Prix. The Dutchman will start at the back of the grid when the lights go out on Sunday due to two grid penalties (one for his mistake in Monza and the other for using a fourth engine).