Red Bull Boss Calls Verstappen On The Top List Of Hamilton's Candidates For Success At Mercedes

JAKARTA - Max Verstappen will be Mercedes' main target when seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton decides to retire, said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner on Monday.

Horner believes Mercedes will be interested in the 23-year-old Dutch racer as a replacement for Hamilton in the future.

"I'm sure when Lewis decided to quit, then Max naturally became the rider at the top of the list. But they also have George Russell, they also have other riders available," Horner said as quoted by Reuters on Tuesday.

Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until 2023 but will rely heavily on the team's performance to live up to its expectations.

The young racer finished third last year, was the best after the duo of Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, and has won 10 of the 119 races he has competed in to date.

Russell, the 2018 Formula 2 world champion, is racing for Williams but has a long-term contract with Mercedes. He also became Hamilton's replacement when his compatriot tested positive for COVID-19 in Bahrain.

"Of course there is an element of performance in Max's contract," said Horner, adding that the relationship between the team and the rider is very strong at the moment.

"I believe we don't need to refer to any contract clauses. In the end it's up to us to provide a competitive car, that's what he wants and that's what we want."

Red Bull also announced Monday that they and the AlphaTauri team will continue to use Honda engine technology until the end of 2024 following an agreement with the Japanese manufacturer.

Honda will leave F1 at the end of this year to focus on developing zero emission technology.

Following the new deal, Red Bull will build engines at the facility they set up in Milton Keynes using Honda technology before the new generation of engines is introduced in 2025.

Horner said Verstappen is confident in the project and can see the investment made by Red Bull.