Red Bull team boss Christian Horner does not rule out a team order in Formula 1 in favour of World Championship title defender and leader Max Verstappen, confirming that if required Max Verstappen will be favoured for the title over Sergio Perez.

“The team will do everything to maximise results and take every opportunity to do so,” Horner told the website gpfans.com.

Verstappen is “in a strong position” in the battle for another drivers’ championship triumph, the British team boss said,

“but we have seen how quickly things can change. We don’t take anything for granted”.

Verstappen had already clearly distanced his rivals in the battle for the Formula 1 title before the summer break. Ferrari front-runner Charcles Leclerc is now 80 points behind the Dutchman in second, while Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez is 85 points behind in third. Nine Grands Prix remain on the calendar until the end of the year.

“There are still a lot of races to go, including a sprint race. We approach each weekend as we have done so far and want to score as many points as possible more than the competition,” Horner clarified.

There haven’t been too many points for Pérez lately. The Mexican, who had even stalked Verstappen to within 15 points after his victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, experienced a mixed phase.

“He had a bit of bad luck a couple of times,” Horner explained, referring to Pérez’s gearbox failure in Montreal.

At Red Bull’s home race in Austria, the 32-year-old was forced to retire after a collision with Mercedes driver George Russell – and afterwards had to put up with public criticism from motorsport advisor Helmut Marko.

“Austria was frustrating, of course, Sergio lost a lot of points,” Horner said. But Pérez will find his way back to success, “I have no doubt about that,” said the Red Bull team boss.