Christian Horner labels Max Verstappen 'best in the world' as Dutchman prepares for title defence

Christian Horner has labelled Max Verstappen the best racing driver in the world and has called on his Red Bull team to make sure they deliver a quick enough car every year to help the Dutchman maximise his full potential.

The 24-year-old Belgian-born Dutch star goes into this season as a defending world champion for the first time in his Formula 1 career, and it’s going to be fascinating to watch how he goes about trying to keep the crown.

Indeed, the likes of Lewis Hamilton will want to challenge once more whilst Ferrari and McLaren are aiming to be in the mix more than they have been in recent years.

Horner, though, believes that Max is the driver to beat and he will continue to win titles if the Red Bull car he is at the wheel of is competitive enough.

Horner said to talkSPORT:

“He’s right up there. You’ve got to remember the car is a big factor in what we do and with Lewis before he went to Mercedes he had won one championship and since he’s been at Mercedes he’s won another six in this hybrid era.

“If we can give Max a car then I think currently he is the best driver in the world and I think that at such a young age he’s got so much ahead of him and it’s down to us that we give him the tools to be able to really realise that talent.”