Horner: Verstappen form inspires not depresses Ricciardo

Verstappen has grabbed the headlines since his arrival at Red Bull, winning the Spanish Grand Prix and, after outqualifying Ricciardo for the first time at Silverstone, taking his third podium finish on Sunday.

Ricciardo was left too far back after losing out with his pitstop timing to join the lead battle at the British Grand Prix, as he admitted afterwards he had a 'boring' run to fourth.

On the back of other frustrations that have cost him, there have been suggestions that Ricciardo may be getting annoyed at the way things have gone, but Horner is confident the Australian will respond brilliantly.

"Daniel is a class driver," said Horner. "He has demonstrated already this year that he is at the top of his game, and no teammate likes being the second of the cars to finish.

"I am sure he will respond positively, but it is a positive thing in the team. They are just two guys going flat out, going for it, and it is very healthy for us."

Unlucky timing

Horner said that Ricciardo was only unable to be in the lead fight at Silverstone because of the unfortunate timing of his switch to intermediate tyres.

"He got a bit unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car, and that cost him probably 10 seconds and allowed [Sergio] Perez to get effectively a free stop ahead of him.

"But that is the run of the green. You cannot anticipate when there is going to be a Virtual Safety Car. He then cleared Perez and was slowly catching on the group – but the damage was done to his race.

"He is going to have a couple of Sundays come up where everything will fall his way and it will be swings and roundabouts."

No team change

Horner also played down talk that Verstappen's arrival at the team had changed internal dynamics, which had perhaps affected Ricciardo's standing.

"Obviously we have got two very strong drivers in the car and they are pushing each other hard, which is great to see," he said.

"There is a confidence in the team that you can see is growing. The car is improving, and there are still areas that we can find time and performance.

"But we are actually in the race with Mercedes at certain circuits, which is great to see. And hopefully there are circuits coming up like the next one where we can get a bit closer still."