'Hard to imagine anyone beating Verstappen in the same car'
F1 News
Who will take a seat in Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen after 2024? That question keeps many F1 fans busy. Christian Horner, too, is preoccupied with the issue and says to Sky Sports that he is keeping a keen eye on the driver market. However, he does see a critical point, because according to him, being Verstappen's teammate is not for everyone.
Strong interest in second Red Bull seat
Sergio Perez's contract expires after the 2024 season and it is still uncertain whether his contract will be renewed or whether Max Verstappen will get a new teammate. Red Bull team boss Horner noticed that there is a lot of interest in the Red Bull seat next to the Dutchman. "As you can imagine, there's quite a bit of interest from certain sectors about driving a Red Bull car," the Briton indicated.
Red Bull Racing have shown interest in Lando Norris before, but at Suzuka it was revealed that McLaren already has positive talks with the young Briton about a contract extension. Horner agrees that Norris is a driver Red Bull is keeping an eye on: "He's a big talent, big personality and of course he's one of those drivers that you keep an eye on. But there's many drivers that you keep an eye on as well. There's a generation of drivers out there at the moment that have got a huge amount of talent."
Horner: 'Some may be up to that challenge, others are not'
However, Horner sees one drawback for whoever manages to secure the second Red Bull seat, and that is Verstappen. "Now, being Max's team-mate is never going to be easy and some drivers may be up for that challenge, some may not be," the team boss stated. "Max is operating at such a level that his confidence, his commitment, his talent is absolute at the moment and it's difficult to envisage somebody beating him in the same equipment. But there's some great talent out there and of course what we want is the best two drivers we can possibly field."