Horner: ‘Very little to choose’ between Hamilton, Verstappen

Christian Horner hopes to see Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen going head-to-head on-track in the near future in Formula 1, believing there is currently “very little to choose between them”.

Mercedes driver Hamilton extended his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship to 37 points with a dominant victory in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

But Verstappen was able to pick up his fifth consecutive podium finish after splitting the Mercedes drivers, crossing the line second ahead of Valtteri Bottas.

Verstappen was left satisfied with the result, saying after the race there was little more he could have hoped to achieve given the Red Bull team’s pace deficit to the Mercedes cars.

Verstappen has been one of the stand-out performers through the 2020 season to date, and is the only driver outside of Mercedes to win a race after taking a surprise victory in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

Asked how Verstappen and Hamilton compared in their current form, Red Bull team principal Horner believed there were only fine margins separating their performances. 

“They are the two in-form drivers in Formula 1,” Horner said on Sky Sports F1 after the race in Barcelona. “There is very little to choose between them.

“It’s interesting, Max is 22 years of age, Lewis is 35, they’re at different stages in their career.

“I’m hopeful that in the coming races, we see the two of them go head to head, because I think that’s what the viewers would love to see.

“It’s what the teams would love to see, and I think it would be good for Formula 1.”

Verstappen had been tipped to challenge Mercedes for victory in Barcelona after impressing over the long runs in practice on Friday.

But he was unable to match Hamilton’s pace in all three stints of the race, causing him to finish more than 20 seconds off the race winner at the chequered flag.

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