BREAKING: Christian Horner Reveals Verstappen’s Crucial Role in Red Bull’s…read more
Christian Horner Reveals Verstappen’s Crucial Role in Red Bull’s Comeback Effort
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has emphasized Max Verstappen’s increasing involvement in the technical side of the team’s Formula 1 operations. As Red Bull faces an early-season performance drop, Verstappen is taking a proactive approach, working closely with engineers to help identify areas for improvement and regain competitiveness.
Despite performance struggles since mid-2024, Verstappen still managed to secure his fourth consecutive title last year. However, the competitive landscape has shifted in 2025, with McLaren emerging as the frontrunner while Red Bull has lost more ground to Ferrari and Mercedes.
Difficult Chinese GP Highlights Red Bull’s Weaknesses
Verstappen was never in podium contention during the Chinese Grand Prix, finishing fourth, over 16 seconds behind race winner Oscar Piastri. A late overtake on Charles Leclerc, who was nursing a damaged front wing, helped salvage points, but it was clear Red Bull lacked the pace to challenge for victory.
Following the race, Verstappen now trails championship leader Lando Norris by eight points, while Red Bull sits 25 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ standings.
Despite these setbacks, Horner remains optimistic, believing that the season is still wide open:
“It’s only the second race of the year—there’s no reason to be discouraged. We’re eight points behind in the drivers’ standings and 25 points down in the constructors’. There’s a long way to go.”
“Last season showed that a strong start doesn’t always guarantee successit’s about how you finish the year.”
Verstappen’s Increasing Role in Red Bull’s Technical Strategy
Horner also praised Verstappen for his growing role in technical discussions, highlighting how the Dutch driver is more engaged with the engineering team than ever before:
“Max is putting in more effort than ever. He’s deeply involved with the engineers, more so than I’ve ever seen.”
“He’s enjoying this aspect of the sport—he’s not getting overly frustrated, but like any driver, he wants the car to be faster. He’s constantly discussing ideas and looking for solutions.”
Verstappen’s dedication to helping solve Red Bull’s performance issues reflects the team’s determination to turn things around quickly.
Red Bull’s Performance Struggles & Areas to Improve
During the race, Verstappen struggled to match the pace of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton on medium tyres, dropping to sixth place in the first stint. While Hamilton later fell back due to a two-stop strategy, Verstappen only managed to overtake Leclerc with four laps remaining, thanks to better tyre management on the hard compound.
Horner acknowledged that Red Bull’s biggest weakness was its lack of pace on the medium tyres, which put Verstappen on the back foot early on. However, once on the hard tyre, he was much more competitive:
“We lost most of our time in that first stint. Max was 18 seconds behind Oscar Piastri when he pitted, but by the end of the race, that gap was down to 16 seconds.”
“On the hard tyre, we were much stronger. We need to analyze whether we miscalculated our tyre degradation after Saturday’s sessions.”
Red Bull’s Plan to Bounce Back
Despite a challenging start to the season, Horner remains confident that Red Bull can fight back:
“We know we need to unlock more speedonce we do, everything will fall into place.”
“Max drove an excellent race, passing both Ferraris to secure fourth place. These are still valuable points, but we recognize there’s plenty of work ahead.”
With Verstappen’s active involvement in Red Bull’s technical direction and the team’s commitment to improvement, they will be working tirelessly to close the gap to McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes in the upcoming races.
