Horner assesses Red Bull’s chances of chasing down McLaren

Christian Horner has acknowledged Red Bull need both cars scoring as he assessed their chances of reclaiming the Teams' crown this season, following a tricky weekend in China. While Max Verstappen scored in both the Sprint and Grand Prix, Liam Lawson has yet to score a single point in 2025.

Lawson’s form across the opening two weekends of the season has already led to speculation as to whether the New Zealander could already lose his seat, with Horner swift to say the team will be looking out for the rookie as the media pressure builds.

But the pertinent issue for Team Principal Horner is the fate of the Teams’ Championship, with Red Bull already 42 points behind McLaren, and 21 adrift of Mercedes.

Having claimed the Teams’ title in 2022 and 2023, Red Bull lost out to McLaren last year – the Milton Keynes-based squad finished third behind the papaya team and second-placed Ferrari – largely because Red Bull didn't have both their drivers scoring large enough points.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 23: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull — Verstappen has managed to score points in the opening two races for Red Bull

While Verstappen would score enough points to win the 2024 Drivers' title once again, last year's team mate Sergio Perez wound up a lowly eighth in the standings with 285 points less.

With Red Bull deciding to replace Perez with Lawson for 2025, owing to the Mexican's poor form hindering their chances in the Teams' Championship, the results from the opening two weekends have not delivered what was hoped.

However, Horner was keen to stress that the title wasn't out of reach yet following Lawson's disappointing first two weekends with the team.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action as Piastri takes Chinese Grand Prix victory in McLaren 1-2

“Look, you never say never,” Horner said after being asked if the team honours were already out of reach.

“I think the one thing McLaren proved to everybody last year is you can have a troubled start to the year but still be very competitive. We’re eight points behind in the Drivers’.

“The [Teams’] Championship is a very tough ask, and we need to make significant progress with the car in order to even challenge for that. You have to have two cars scoring, that obviously hurt us badly last year.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 23: Zak Brown, Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Second placed Lando — Red Bull are struggling to keep up with McLaren's scoring run at the moment

“We have to have two cars in there, and even to compete for the Drivers’, you’ve got to have another car in play. It’s vitally important for the team to ensure that we have both drivers running as close to the front as we can.”

While Verstappen has finished second, third and fourth in the three scoring events from this season so far, Lawson is yet to get off the mark having crossed the line 14th in the Sprint and 15th in the Chinese Grand Prix – a result which became P12 following three disqualifications to cars ahead.

By contrast, McLaren have delivered two wins including a 1-2, a further podium in the Sprint and arguably would be further ahead if not for the late rainy spell in Australia that cost Piastri his chance of P2.

Add Mercedes into the mix, with George Russell delivering two podiums from the first two Grands Prix while Kimi Antonelli has delivered points at every opportunity so far, and it is clear to see why the pressure might already be mounting on Red Bull.

“In the end there are 400 engineers in our team who are all trawling through the 600 sensors that are on the car, so there’s an awful lot of information that we have,” said Horner, when asked about turning things around.

In terms of inspiration, Red Bull need look no further than their rivals after McLaren's improvements throughout 2024 saw them end the year with arguably the best car. Red Bull will be hoping to emulate that themselves in 2025 as the season goes on.