F1
Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1 7y

Christian Horner: Max Verstappen's recent failures 'character building'

Formula 1, AutoRacing

Red Bull boss Christian Horner thinks Max Verstappen's recent run of bad luck and car failures will be "character building" for the frustrated teenager. 

Verstappen had a lightning start in Canada, jumping from fifth to second at Turn 1, only for his battery to fail on lap 10 when he looked well placed for at least a podium. The Dutchman later admitted being "fed up" with his situation after finishing just two of the last five races and seeing teammate Daniel Ricciardo score three podiums in a row, one of which came at Monaco where Verstappen was left frustrated at his team's strategy. 

Horner believes Verstappen's on-track performances show he is learning how to come back from repeated setbacks.

"It is character building but he will come through it strong," Horner said. "His driving is getting better and better. You can see the performances in the last two or three races, he has really been making a lot of progress, and it is a shame he did not achieve the result he deserved.

"Obviously he is going to be disappointed because he was in such a great position. But what he can take real heart from, and see the bigger picture, is he is performing really well, the performance of the car is getting stronger and stronger. He was fighting to take the lead at the restart, so even though results have not gone his way, it is a long season. It will balance itself out. His time will come at races in the future."

Horner is not surprised to see Verstappen cut such a frustrated figure and claim he is "not enjoying" his current situation.

"He is going to be emotional when he got out of the car, but in the cold light of day he is qualifying closer, the performance of the car is getting closer, he was running a competitive second ahead of a Mercedes and both Ferraris. So, things are moving in the right direction. There are certain things beyond our control, and [Canada] was one of them. He knows how hard the team is pushing to make sure performance and reliability are there."

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