Horner said: “I can’t see any reason why anybody would want to step out of this team. He has great support around him and he is doing a wonderful job with a great car.

“No individual is bigger than the team. We have a phenomenal car. We have one seat open for next year. I have 16 drivers desperate to be in that car. Checo (Sergio Perez) is in pole position, it is his seat to lose. We have a strong relationship with Max, he is doing a wonderful job and our focus is on track.

“We listen to whatever Max has to say but the team will always make the right decisions for the team.”

Wolff said after the Saudi race, in which Russell and Hamilton finished sixth and ninth respectively, that the team were perplexed by their lack of performance.

The car was uncompetitive in high-speed corners and Wolff said: “There is something which we don’t understand.

“It’s a more fundamental thing which we believe that the speed should be there. We measure the downforce but we don’t find it on the lap time.

“The thing is, it’s been two and a half years that we are chasing this fundamental. It’s been two years that there is something that we need to spot and that’s the thing to unlock.

“It is not by lack of trying. We pushed so hard and we are going to give it a massive go now in the next week with more data to understand and come back to (the next race in) Melbourne stronger.

“We are on mission on this one and I am 100% sure we are going to unlock this performance gap.”