Red Bull can cover off Verstappen F1 ban threat, hints it’s too early for Lindblad

Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes his Formula 1 team is well-equipped to cope in the event Max Verstappen teeters over the edge with an extra penalty point at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Due to the unique situation that Red Bull’s parent company owns two teams, the drivers at Horner’s outfit and Racing Bulls are all considered Red Bull drivers – hence the fluidity afforded to the team when it switched Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson earlier this season.

Verstappen reached 11 penalty points for his contact with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix, putting him perilously close to the 12-point limit that would enforce a one-race ban.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 what that would entail if Verstappen were to receive a ban, Horner confirmed that the team has plenty of drivers to call upon – but it has been suggested that the team would prefer to avoid disrupting junior driver Arvid Lindblad’s Formula 2 campaign; the Anglo-Swede is eight points behind championship leader Alex Dunne.

Lindblad received special dispensation to receive his F1-grade superlicence, despite falling below the FIA’s minimum age limit of 18.

“Arvid Lindblad is at the very beginning of his journey in Formula 1, having been granted that license,” Horner said. 

“First of all, [Max receiving a ban is] a situation that we want to desperately try and avoid. And should it come, we’ve got enough drivers to draw upon from the pool of Red Bull drivers.”

Asked if Isack Hadjar would be in the frame, Horner declined to say who would get first refusal, stating: “we would deal with it if it happened”.

The likely course of action would be to put Liam Lawson or Hadjar in the car, with Racing Bulls reserve Ayumu Iwasa on standby to deputise for either.

On the subject of Tsunoda’s progress in the second car, Horner reckoned that the Japanese driver’s qualifying crash at Imola had shaken some of his confidence, but believes that he is restoring some of that with seat time.

Tsunoda was given some running after Barcelona in Red Bull’s RB19, which Horner felt was a considerable benefit.

“You can’t underestimate the shunt that he had in Imola,” Horner explained. “I think that knocked his confidence a little in the last couple of races, but he did a TPC test in Barcelona following the race there, and I think that was really good for him.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“And hopefully he can build that confidence back here this weekend. It’s a track he likes, so hopefully he can have a good run.

“I think if you look at the way the cars have been developed over the last five years, you’re always dealing with the information that you have to try and produce the fastest car that you can. And sometimes fast cars are difficult cars to drive. 

“Max has a very acute ability to be able to extract the maximum. Yuki came in and was finding his feet reasonably to begin with. 

“That incident in Imola did affect his confidence. But on the metrics, we see he’s actually closer to Max. Hopefully, with a bit of time and confidence, performances will come.”