Horner not in full agreement with Verstappen: 'All depends on that'

Horner admitted that Red Bull was clearly not on McLaren's level, especially in the first stint of the race. "We were 0.17 off pole and we were as quick on the second stint as a McLaren. So we know there's areas that we need to improve the car in and there's a road map of development that is planned, to really find a little bit more pace and put a lot of pressure on the McLarens ahead. They're not that far ahead," he said in the paddock at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Horner agrees with Verstappen?

Asked about Verstappen's comment that Red Bull is currently the fourth-best team on pure pace, the Red Bull team boss responded: "I think it's all subjective to the day that you're on. Today, McLaren are the benchmark, they've won the first two races, that's who we have to beat, Max is working harder than I've ever seen in terms of putting the effort in giving real direction from what he needs from the car to find that missing pace."

Although Horner remains cautious about the prospects for the upcoming races, he also sees positive signs. "We have a lot of information, data and feedback from the driver. The second stint was more promising. If you look at the lap times from the last part of the race, even his last lap was very competitive.

"Why was it competitive? What does he need in terms of switching on the grip? It's not a balance issue so much that he's struggling with, it's just extracting more from the tyre," explained the 51-year-old Briton.

As to how much progress can be made towards Japan, he remains cautious. "Who knows? Again, it depends what the others are doing. We know the areas that we are working on. Obviously, we'll keep looking to bring performance to the car and we'll find out in two weeks," Horner concluded.

This article was written in collaboration with Nicole Mulder.