Verstappen will 'be a really exciting factor' in 2017

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Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen "is going to be a really exciting factor" in 2017 if Red Bull delivers a competitive car.

Verstappen was promoted to a Red Bull seat after just four rounds of this season and duly won his first race for the team at the Spanish Grand Prix. Horner says the teenager's performances have marked him out as "a man of the future", with the 19-year-old enjoying a strong end to 2016.

On top of his recent praise, Horner warns Verstappen will only improve with age, especially if Red Bull can ensure the car matches his own development in the coming seasons.

"I think you learn every year," Horner said. "Max for sure he is a young guy. He is super competitive. He is only getting stronger and stronger as his experience is growing. If we can give him a competitive car next year he is going to be a really exciting factor."

And Horner believes the chances are high that Red Bull will be able to proved its drivers with a more competitive car in 2017 than in recent years.

"Changing the rules shakes things up a bit. I’m sure Toto [Wolff] will like to freeze the cars for the next five years.

"I think that a change in regulations presents a great opportunity or us. We have a strong team, a strong driver pairing and we have all the ingredients to put a strong campaign together for next year. Hopefully we’ll close that gap down to the dominance we have seen with Mercedes."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.