Max Verstappen arrived in Canada under pressure after his Monaco crash. But he responded with a mature drive to take a podium at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Now Red Bull boss Christian Horner is hoping his charge’s luck is about to change…

While team mate Daniel Ricciardo had secured two wins in the opening six races, Verstappen was involved in a series of incidents with third place in Spain his best result in that period.

But Verstappen found his way in Montreal, topping the first three practice sessions, having failed to finish top of the charts at any point in 2018, and then qualified a strong third before converting that into his second podium of the season.

"He did a super job,” said Horner. “He’s such an exciting talent. In any sport, you see sportsmen have periods where things don’t go quite as well as others.

“That’s been very public for him. Hopefully his luck is about to change. This was a fantastic performance from him all weekend.”

Horner added that Verstappen attended the race on his own, without a group of supporters, which usually includes his management and his father.

“His approach here has been slightly different, he’s been here on his own,” said Horner. “It’s the first race I think he’s done on his own. It’s something different.