Horner defends Verstappen: 'Mercedes don’t have that inner confidence'

Pressure on Mercedes

For the first time since 2013, Red Bull Racing is truly back in contention for the world title. Max Verstappen can compete with Lewis Hamilton and the team still has a good chance of winning the constructors' world title. Horner would see this as his greatest achievement, despite four previous world titles.

''It will be our biggest achievement. If you look at the strength of Mercedes, and the dominance they’ve had, it’s clear that nobody’s come near them for years. No one has put them under this kind of pressure at this stage of the season so it will be an enormous achievement if we pull it off,'' Horner revealed at The Guardian.

The fight isn't just on the track though, it's also outside of it. Toto Wolff and Horner regularly attack each other, but after the British and Italian Grand Prix, the drivers were also involved in this discussion. According to Horner, Verstappen should not worry about this as much as possible.

Sober Verstappen

''Lewis has had an amazing career and he’s still in fantastic form. He’s still a titan of the sport. The fact that Max is able to go toe-to-toe with him is probably something Lewis hasn’t had throughout his career – certainly through the championship years. There’s nothing with this degree of intensity. There’s obviously a lot at stake for him as he’s going for a record-breaking eighth championship, Max is going for his first and he knows he’s got many more years to come.''

''We just remind Max that our focus is very much on ourselves and not to get sucked into any of our competitors’ comments when they’re taking a pop at you. They’re doing that because, ultimately, they don’t have that inner confidence in themselves. It’s best to take that as a compliment,'' the Red Bull team boss concluded with a clear sneer at Mercedes.