Red Bull’s Max Verstappen insists he is “not thinking about” the prospect of replacing Lewis H💦amilton if the Mercedes driver quits Formula 1 after 2021.

Following a long-run saga, Hamilton 168澳洲5最新开奖结𓆏果:finally put pen to paper on a new deal to remain with Mercedes for 2021, th൩ough the nature of the one-year contract has only fuelled speculation about his future beyond the end of the year.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner recently said he expects Verstappen would at the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:top of Mercedes’ driver wish-list as a possible candidate to repla🌳cꦕe Hamilton in the future.

But the Dutchman, who signed a new long-term agreement with Red Bull at the start of last year, is not dwelling on the su♌bject on the eve of the new campaign.

“At the end of the day, I don’t know what Lewis is g🍌oing to do,” Verstappen told media on Thursday following his first outing in Red Bull’s updated 🔯RB16B this week at Silverstone.

“I’m just focused on myself and focused on this year and trying to make that a success. So early in the season with 𝓀basically just a shakedown, 🐭I am not thinking about those sort of things at this stage.”

Red Bull has agreed a deal to continuಌe to use Honda’s F1 power unit▨s until 2025, while it has also formed a new engi💖ne devision of its own - called Red Bull Powertrains Limited - at its Milton Keynes base, opening the door to potentia🍨lly develop its own power unit in the future.

Asked🌳 whether Red Bull’s move changed anything from Verstappen’s point of view regarding the future, he replied: “No, it doesn’t cꦡhange anything for me.

“It’s exciting but at the same𓆏 time I'm not too focused on it at the moment. We are 🍃living in the moment, trying to have a good season first of all this year and the smart people in the background will handle those kind of things with the engine.

"It’s of course very important that it happened and that it was sig🐼ned off,” he added. “But that’s it. I’m very relaxed, very calm. I just want to focus on this year. That’s for me very important. It’s nice to have in the background that it’s sorted.”