Christian Horner: “We are going to try to put right what happened last year”; Red Bull boss sends warning to Mercedes and Ferrari

Red Bull boss Christian Horner still hasn't forgotten what transpired at the British Grand Prix last year between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. He sent a message to their rivals, particularly Ferrari and Mercedes, that the Austrian team "will try to put right what happened last year".

Horner spoke ahead of the GP at Silverstone with Formula1.com: "Silverstone was very difficult for us last year. We came there with a good lead then, this year we will come here again with a lead, so it is important to keep full focus. It's an incredible run of races we've had and the drivers and team are doing a great job."

Horner said that he is expecting a strong performance from Mercedes, but stated that they will also make short work of the team if they come close: "I am sure there is a huge support for the Mercedes drivers from the fans, but we will go there in strong form and try to put right what happened last year."

At a hugely controversial British Grand Prix last year, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collided on the first lap, which sent the Dutch driver into the wall at copse corner. Verstappen started on the front row ahead of Hamilton and both drivers went wheel-to-wheel in the first seven corners.

But going into copse, Hamilton tried a move down the inside and hit Verstappen's right rear tyre, which sent the Dutchman into the wall. Hamilton was given a 10-second stop-go penalty but recovered to win his home grand prix. Verstappen came into that race with a huge 33-point lead, but it was cut down to 7 points after the race.

Once again this year, Red Bull and Max are coming into the British GP with a good lead in the driver's and Construcor's standings. Max is leading his teammate by 46 points, while Red Bull are 76 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructor's standings.

When asked about how Max would approach the race after what happened last year, Horner replied: "He's arriving back at Silverstone as the reigning world champion, he's leading the drivers championship. Our focus is on getting the best out of the weekend, the best out of the car and seeing how we fare against our opponents,"

With new technical regulations introduced this year, Mercedes hasn't got it right so far, with Lewis Hamilton already out of the championship fight. Red Bull had three dropouts during the first three races, but since then the team has won every race. Despite this, Horner is unsure if Red Bull will triumph in Britain once more.

"We've seen Ferrari at tracks like Barcelona be strong. We're hearing of a big upgrade for Mercedes as well," Horner revealed.

Mercedes' Technical Director Mike Elliott explained the upgrades recently. “We will be bringing new bits to Silverstone; we will be trying to push the car forward, trying to get some pace from the car we’ve got as well as the new bits we are going to add to it.