Horner praises Leclerc: 'Racing hard and fair'

Charles Leclerc has had a first half of the season with highs and lows. The Ferrari driver is now 80 points behind Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, and seems to be able to forget about the world title. But he does have a new fan: Christian Horner.

The Red Bull team boss tells Racer He is impressed with the Monegasque. In particular he praises Leclerc's racing style: hard, but fair. Horner points out that there were no accidents in the first half of the season between Leclerc and Verstappen. That was different last year between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Despite Verstappen's sizeable lead in the standings and Red Bull also having a large points differential with Ferrari, Horner does not want to say that the titles are fixed. “The points tables look healthy and it’s a great way to sign off into the summer break but there’s still a lot of racing to go,” he said

“Ferrari are quick, Mercedes are coming back into the game. There’s still a long, long way to go in this championship – plus a Sprint race – so we don’t take anything for granted. There’s still a lot of racing to do and at very different venues.”