Joint-decision for Max Verstappen to drop entourage in Canada – Red Bull

Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team came to a mutual agreement for the Dutchman to drop his usual entourage which accompanies him to every race.

Verstappen was without his father Jos Verstappen and his usual management team in Canada, which team boss Christian Horner explained was a joint-decision and something different for the 20-year-old who's suffered from a string of criticism following a spate of crashes this season.

Horner though admitted he didn't know if it contributed to Verstappen's strong race weekend, which saw him top all three practice sessions and take third on the grid ahead of a Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen, as well as scoring only his second podium finish this year.

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"It's the first race he's ever done on his own and it's just something different," the Briton said after the race.

"Whether it has contributed in any way is impossible to say. He's still evolving and maturing as a driver as he gains more experience.

"It was something that was discussed with him, it was something agreed between him and the team."

However the 'experiment' was a one off according to Horner who admitted it was something the team wanted to try as they looked to get Verstappen back on track.

"I'm not saying that it has contributed in any way, it was just something a little bit different, that we wanted to try.

"He's been very immersed in everything that he's been doing this weekend and he's done a super job, so all credit to him for putting together a very strong race and finishing within a tenth of Valtteri [Bottas]."