Red Bull says it pushed to lock down Max Verstappen to a long-term contract with the team because it did not want speculation over his future to distract the team from its on-track efforts. The Milton Keynes-based team caused a surprise on Friday when it announced that Verstappen had been locked down until the end of 2020. Red Bull boss Christian Horner said that the decision to do the deal – even though Verstappen was already committed until at least the end of next year – was essential to stop the rumour mill. "In order to get rid of distractions and speculation it was better to address it," Horner told Motorsport.com. "The team wanted to retain him, Max wanted to stay...
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