Horner: "Confidence Verstappen will be sky-high"

Christian Horner has full confidence in the driver duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The two men are entering their second year as teammates and team boss Horner is especially expecting a lot from Perez after he had a reasonable, but not exceptional debut season in 2021.

Perez came over from Racing Point as a replacement for Alexander Albon. In the first half of the season the Mexican had some adjustment problems, but little by little it got better. It turned out to be enough to be sure of another year at Red Bull as Verstappen's teammate as early as August.

"Checo will be stronger and taking a step up for sure," Horner said of the 32-year-old Mexican. The British top man cited the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as an example. Perez did a fantastic job of holding up title rival Lewis Hamilton by more than ten seconds, allowing Verstappen to rejoin the battle.

Verstappen full of confidence

Verstappen eventually took his first World Championship title at the Yas Marina Circuit and he draws an awful lot of confidence from that. "Max, he had an outstanding season, he dominated the amount of laps led, 10 wins and the world championship. His confidence will be sky high. The most important thing was to work strongly as a team, and the drivers supporting each other."

The season begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20. The second week of winter testing also takes place there, scheduled for March 10-12.