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Christian Horner has revealed what he has been telling Max Verstappen ahead of the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Horner has been telling the Dutchman to enjoy the weekend and drive exactly the way he has up until this point, which could lead to victory in the world championship against Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton and Verstappen have been competing at the top throughout the season, with the Dutchman being ahead of the Briton until the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last weekend. The points between the two championship protagonists are now equal heading into the last race as Hamilton managed to win the chaotic race in Jeddah.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has the tough job of keeping Verstappen's mind and focus in a healthy place, especially since he is up against a seven-time world champion.
Horner said in a pre-Grand Prix interview:
"In the end, the most important thing is for him to enjoy his weekend. To give his best and drive exactly as he has in the previous 21 races. And to attack the weekend in the way that he has, that has given him those nine victories and taken him to the point of being tied on points with Lewis. Max Verstappen has kept us in the championship, it is the way he has extracted performance. Just go for it and enjoy and obviously we have to beat Lewis for the championship and to beat Lewis you probably have to win the race. The only chance to win the championship is for us to beat Lewis and we want to do that on track."
Max Verstappen fastest in FP1
The showdown between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen is underway at the revised Yas Marina Circuit. Verstappen topped the list during FP1 on Friday afternoon after setting a time of 1:25.009, beating Hamilton by nearly 0.3 seconds. Here is a list of the top 5:
- Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing -1:25.009
- Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +0.196
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes + 0.346
- Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.354
- Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +0.369
Catch the action live as the title showdown continues at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
