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Red Bull F1 boss says Verstappen has shown he's a team player

Max Verstappen proved he is a team player by letting Red Bull Formula 1 team-mate Daniel Ricciardo through during the German Grand Prix, according to his team principal Christian Horner

Both drivers made good starts, passing polesitter Nico Rosberg, with Verstappen then going around the outside of Ricciardo at Turn 1 to snatch second.

German Grand Prix driver ratings

During their third stints, Verstappen on soft tyres let Ricciardo on the super-softs through into third place, as Red Bull worked to get both ahead of Rosberg.

The Mercedes driver still had to serve a penalty for his earlier move on Verstappen, and the teamwork paid off with Ricciardo and Verstappen clearing him during the final round of stops and staying there to complete the podium.

"He has demonstrated beyond any doubt that he is a team player," Horner said of Verstappen.

"They both had good starts, Max on the outside and Daniel gave him just enough room to work with, which is what I asked for in the briefing on Sunday morning and then they ran different strategies.

"We fitted the super-soft onto Max at the first stop to try and cover Rosberg and took a different route with Daniel fitting the soft tyre.

"After Rosberg had picked up his penalty, the objective was to make sure we got both of the drivers ahead.

"Daniel was on the faster tyre and closing very quickly on Max.

"We asked that he released him quickly rather than lose time fighting each other to ensure both of them were able to get ahead of Rosberg with his five-second penalty.

"Max immediately did that efficiently and Sunday is the result of great teamwork between the whole team, including the race drivers."

With the double podium, Red Bull has moved ahead of Ferrari into second in the constructors' championship.

Since becoming team-mates at the Spanish Grand Prix in May, Ricciardo has finished ahead in four of seven races they have both completed.

When asked about the relationship between his drivers, Horner said: "It's very healthy and there is a great respect between the two of them.

"As far as team-mates can go, they seem to like each other and they wants similar things from the car and beyond that, they are both very, very fast.

"[Hockenheim] went in Daniel's favour, Barcelona went in Max's favour - it's the swings and roundabouts of a season."

AUTOSPORT SAYS
Lawrence Barretto, F1 Reporter, (@lawrobarretto)

When Max Verstappen obeyed a team order promptly to let his team-mate through on Sunday, it showed a new level of maturity.

Rewind to last year's race in Singapore when he refused Toro Rosso's request to cede eighth position to Carlos Sainz Jr, who was on fresher tyres.

He simply said "no", though was later backed up by team boss Franz Tost, who said his charge was right to do so.

Then in Australia this year, Verstappen had a series of heated team radio exchanges as he was annoyed Toro Rosso chose to bring Sainz in first, despite the teenager being ahead.

He pitted for the second time when the team was not expecting him to do so, which dropped him behind Sainz, and then the pair made contact.

There was no sign of that frustration in Germany, though, as he gave up second place without an argument.

But when asked whether he would have obeyed the call if it was for first place, he said: "I don't know, because we were not driving for first position. It's difficult to answer."

It appears the 18y-year-old has learned to pick his battles.

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