Red Bull boss Christian Horner is confident Max Verstappen will not be tempted to join Ferrari or Mercedes in the near future.

Verstappen is having a season to forget after a plethora of reliability issues forced him to retire five times in seven races during the firt half of the 2017 campaign.

The Dutchman has grown increasingly frustrated with life at Red Bull as he tries to force his way into a World Championship fight, but Horner believes Verstappen knows he is at the right team to achieve his dream.

“I don't think so. I think he can see what's going on," Horner stated via Motorsport.com.

“He's impatient like any youngster but he's objective enough to know that there's good stuff in the pipeline.

“And from where we started the season to where we are now, the trajectory has been right there as soon as we sorted out the issues with correlation from earlier in the year. We've seen very sharp progress.”

Verstappen's current Red Bull contract expires in 2019, and Horner knows what needs to happen for the Dutchman to stay.

“What's reflected on a piece of paper has to reflect desire from both sides," he warned.

“There's no point talking past the end of Max's current contract at the moment, because it's down to us to provide him with a car that he can compete and win in.

“And I'm sure if we do that, I don't think there's any other team that Max would rather be in.”