Horner doesn't see Red Bull as favourites for the title: 'Absolutely not'

"No, absolutely not. I think with the tracks, yes we’ve got a points advantage in the drivers, a disadvantage in the constructors. There are 78 points still available for the drivers, and obviously significantly more in the constructors. There is still a huge amount of racing to do over these last three weekends, no certainly far from the favourites. Particularly after what we saw in Brazil," he says in an interview with CNN.

In 2013, Red Bull won the constructors' championship for the last time. In the years since, Mercedes has been too dominant to be challenged for the world title. Horner explains what it would mean for the team to help Verstappen to his first world title.

Mercedes have been the benchmark

"I think it would be our biggest achievement since Red Bull have come into the sport. I think it would even eclipse what we did in the V8 era. I think the way Max has developed, and I think he’s driving on a phenomenally high level. He has produced some fantastic races this year. I think he really deserves it. I just hope we can give him a car that can see him realize it," Horner continues.

The team boss explains why it would be the biggest achievement yet for the team. "Because of the strength of the competition. Mercedes have won over, what, eighty percent of the races over the last seven years. They have been the benchmark, and they’ve knocked it out of the park in terms of where those standards have been the last few years, so to be able to break that, and to be able to be challenging them at this point in the year, it just shows in life that anything is possible. Otherwise, we may as well roll over and give them the trophies now."