Horner: F1 would be boring without Verstappen, Red Bull

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says Formula 1 would be a “fairly boring show” without Max Verstappen and his squad in 2019.

Mercedes has largely dominated the opening half of the campaign, claiming five consecutive 1-2 finishes and eight straights wins until Verstappen took Red Bull’s first victory of the year in Austria, before going on to win in Germany.

The Dutchman nearly made it three wins from the last four races in Hungary having led for the majority of the race until being passed by Hamilton in the closing stages after Mercedes pulled off a masterstroke strategy.

Speaking after Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Horner said: “Thank god for Red Bull and Max Verstappen for Formula 1 at the moment, otherwise it would be a fairly boring show.

“I think it’s great to have races like today, even though we didn’t come out on top, it’s what fans want to see. I think the last four races, in reality, have been great races after the bore-fest of France.

“Hopefully with the tracks we have coming up, there is exciting races to come and if the grid does concertina and Max can race against Lewis and the Ferraris as well then it is bright for the future.”

Red Bull was initially unable to match rivals Mercedes and Ferrari at the start of the season having struggled to get on top of an aerodynamic regulation change, though impressive chassis and engine gains in recent months has enabled the Milton Keynes outfit to move into contention for regular wins.

“I think that the regulation change over the winter definitely hurt us with the way we work the front wing,” Horner explained.

“I think as the team has gained more understanding and been able to use these regulations better, we have managed to recover the balance and characteristics of the car.

“And of course, it was combined with a tyre construction change as well and those two elements hit us quite hard on the chassis side over the winter.

“But I think we have made really good progress over the last few months and hopefully in the second half of the year we have got a good vein of development that should continue to help with that.”