Horner proud of Verstappen: 'He’s grown up with us'

Christian Horner hopes to work with Max Verstappen for a long time to come. The team boss saw last season how the Dutchman resisted the qualities of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, and managed to secure the world title. The confidence he has in Verstappen is high.

Verstappen joined the Red Bull Racing team at a young age and drove for the first time with the big team in 2016. Horner has seen his pupil grow into a reliable face in Formula 1 over the past few years and noted that Verstappen's level of performance was exclusively rising. It resulted in him winning the world championship this year.

"He’s grown up with us", Horner stated in conversation with The Race. "He joined us as a 16-year-old and we’ve seen him mature into the young man that he is. He’s come of age, we’ve seen him grow. We’ve seen him make his mistakes, but we’ve seen him mature into the world champion that he is today."

While Horner announced this month that he will remain part of the Red Bull team until 2026, the Austrian racing team also hope to extend Verstappen's contract. The Dutch driver previously indicated that he would like to continue with the team in the coming years, but a longer stay is far from certain for the time being.