Horner sees shades of Vettel in Verstappen

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen's understanding of Formula 1 is becoming "deeper and deeper" as he matures.

Horner can see signs that Verstappen's level of feedback across a grand prix weekend, in particular, is beginning to draw on par with Sebastian Vettel, who left Red Bull at the end of 2014 to join Ferrari after winning four world titles with the team.

"I remember Sebastian's debriefs would take about two hours," Horner told F1 Unscripted. "We'd be half-an-hour in and he's just completed the formation lap and tested his drinks bottle!"

Horner added: "But the detail he used to go into in recounting every stage of the race, every stage of the tyre, it was way too much information for us to be able to even digest. It was a useful exercise for him as well to go through, recounting what could have been done better.

"I remember Mark [Webber] would take about 15 minutes to do the entire race, on the other side of the table. Different styles for different people.

"It's funny, but as Max matures, the information coming from him gets deeper and deeper because of his understanding - 'Oh yeah, the wind changed on lap six to eight, and as I was approaching turn four and five'.

"But their ability to recount details is phenomenal."

Horner also sees no reason why Alex Albon cannot continue to prove himself with the team this season and forge a long-term partnership with Verstappen.

Albon was promoted from Toro Rosso last year for the final nine grands prix of the year, and figured strongly.

"Alex was getting stronger throughout last year," Horner told the SkySports F1 Show. "We have Max on a long-term contract and our ideal is to continue with those two drivers, not just for the next season but beyond that into 2021.

“Obviously, that will depend on how Alex performs but all the indications that we saw and the progress we saw last year show that we have a strong pairing in Max and Alex.”

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