Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are set to go toe-to-toe in the Formula One championship race this season, according to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.

Last year it was very much Verstappen as the title fighter against Lewis Hamilton, with Perez largely the second driver often tasked with trying to take points and places off Mercedes wherever possible.

This time around, though, he has started in formidable fashion and the top three - the Red Bull duo and Ferrar’s Charles Leclerc - are separated by just 15 points after seven rounds.

Perez has claimed four podium spots, with one victory in France, while Verstappen has four wins from five top-three finishes. But there will be no separating them from the team bosses and both will be allowed to fight it out, confirmed Horner.

“He’s [Perez] in this championship just as much Max is,” he said. “The difference between the two of them, it’s nothing. Him and Max have been a lot closer this year.”

That rivalry has led to some suggesting that the partnership between the duo which worked so well last year - in Verstappen’s favour more often than not - would suffer as a result, which the reigning champion rejects.

“Why would it change?” said Verstappen. “We work really well as a team. We always try to optimise the car and work for the team and we can accept when somebody does a good job or does a better job and I think that’s very important because that’s how you are respectful to each other.

“May the best man win at the end, right? We always, of course, [are] trying to do the best we can on the track but we also respect each other a lot.”

Perez penned a new two-year contract with Red Bull last week and had joked he “probably signed too early” after winning the Monaco Grand Prix immediately afterwards.