Horner reacts after dramatic Monza weekend for Verstappen

F1 News

Christian Horner after F1 Italian Grand Prix with Max Verstappen
1 September at 17:34
  • Jeroen Immink

Red Bull experienced a dramatic weekend at the Italian Grand Prix. On the Monza straights, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finished no further than sixth and eighth, and meanwhile, McLaren has once again caught up with the constructors. Team boss Christian Horner has since responded.

Is the pressure getting too much for Red Bull?

McLaren are only eight points behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship. With a lot of races to go and an RB20 not running, it seems a matter of time before Red Bull starts losing the lead. "With the pace that we had today, both championships absolutely will be under pressure for sure," Horner revealed when speaking to GPblog after the Monza race. "So we have to turn the situation around very quickly," the team boss added.

"I think this circuit has exposed the deficiencies that we have in the car versus last year. I think that we have a very clear issue which has been highlighted this weekend that we know we have to get on top of and address, otherwise we put ourselves under massive pressure."

Horner saw Verstappen struggle tremendously during the race. "You can see that we've got a disconnection in balance that just isn't working. As soon as you end up in that situation, you're harder on tyres. You end up compensating. You move the balance around, you secure one problem and you create another. So you just end up in a vicious circle," Horner said.

Horner thanks Ferrari after Italian GP

Horner realises that because of Charles Leclerc's victory at Monza, the damage has still been fairly limited. "The reality was Ferrari helped us out a little bit today in the fight in between the two McLaren drivers. Otherwise in the Drivers' Championship, there could have been another chunk of points taken out of us," Horner concluded.

The problems seem to be piling up for Red Bull. The Austrian racing team, meanwhile, has already failed to win in the past six races. Verstappen was unapologetic after the race in Italy.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton