Christian Horner has defended Alex Albon after Lewis Hamilton said that Red Bull needed both their drivers challenging in the front. After Hamilton won the Belgian GP ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen – which has been the top three in all but two races so far this season – the six-time world champion said Verstappen was “on his own” fighting Mercedes and could do with some help from his team-mate.
“It’s slightly ironic that Lewis is the guy that’s taken him out of two podium positions! Alex is getting stronger, he’s improving,” said Horner. “The car is tricky this year, I think it’s been a little bit trickier than last year. But he’s getting to grips with it, and I think his performance on race days, his racecraft, his progress through the field, has always been very very strong. If we can give him a better car, as I think we did on Saturday in Spa, then I think he’ll only benefit from that in the remaining races.”
“Alex has really impressed me with his ability to brush himself down and bounce back. If he’s had a bad Saturday then he’s come back and driven incredibly well on a Sunday. So he’s got that mental resilience, and he’s got that racecraft.” he added. “We’ve seen him perform very well under huge pressure. I think that’s a key characteristic and I think the rest will come for him as we improve the car – he will benefit from that. He works incredibly hard, he’s got a very good understanding of what he’s doing and what the car is doing, and where he needs to improve.”
