Red Bull fire off warning to Ticktum after F3 outburst

Red Bull junior driver and Toro Rosso hopeful Dan Ticktum has been warned by Red Bull after comments he made against European F3 title rival Mick Schumacher as well as questioning the integrity of the series.

In an outburst which saw him take to social media after a disappointing weekend in Austria, the Brit suggested that there was something cynical taking place in the series after squandering a healthy championship lead to his rival to trail by 40 points at the end of the weekend.

Ticktum alluded to favouritism in the series, questioning the engine performance of the Schumacher and Prema teammate Robert Shwartzman. Ticktum also said he felt he was "fighting a losing battle" due to the fact his “last name is not Schumacher”.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made clear that the youngster had to regain focus and continue performing in the manner which put himself in the frame for a Toro Rosso seat in 2019.

"He sometimes engages mouth before brain. He's a talented driver, but you know, he's got more development to do before he's anywhere near Formula 1 level.

Ticktum is the favoured option for one of the vacant Toro Rosso seats for Dr Helmut Marko, head of the Red Bull driver programme although Ticktum would need to win the Euro F3 title from behind and win the winter Asian series to earn enough superlicense points to qualify for an F1 drive.