Christian Horner says that holding off Lewis Hamilton in the Turkish Grand Prix will be difficult, the Red Bull boss admitting that the world champion is as quick and determined as ever.

Over the years, even in the junior formulae, Lewis Hamilton has consistently risen to the challenge following an early mistake, a poor qualifying or a grid penalty.

At Hockenheim in 2018 he won despite starting 14th on the grid, while a year earlier, in Brazil, he finished fourth after starting from the back of the grid. In 2016, in Belgium, he finished third, despite starting from the back of the grid, while in Germany, in 2014, he finished 3rd despite starting the race 16th.

Consequently, starting the Turkish Grand Prix from 11th shouldn't present too much of a problem for the Briton who promises "maximum attack".

"Lewis has looked probably the quickest he's looked all year here," admitted Christian Horner. "The Mercedes is hooked up around here, it's working well on this asphalt and this circuit and he's going to be coming through pretty quick.

"So we've just got to focus on our own race," he added, "get the strategy right, reliability, all those factors and see how we pan out."

Other than hoping that Max Verstappen can get the jump on Valtteri Bottas, Red Bull will be hoping that Sergio Perez, who starts from 6th on the grid, will be able to hold off Hamilton as he seeks to make his way through the field.

Of course, there is also the little matter of the cars that surround Hamilton at the start, including Yuki Tsunoda – the only top ten qualifier on softs - Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso.

For his part, Hamilton promises "maximum attack".

"I was third already at Turn 1 last year so that made a bit of a difference," said the Mercedes driver. "It's a much different weekend, a much different track grip, so we're faced with different circumstances.

"My eyes are still solely set on winning the race," he added. "It's going to be very hard, from 11th, but not impossible, so just staying on my toes and making sure that we deliver maximum attack."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Istanbul, here.