Horner reveals Red Bull road map to hunt McLaren

The Milton Keynes-based outfit had dominated the new era of F1 under the current technical regulations but a swing in form as it began to struggle with its car and McLaren got on top of its concept.

In qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, McLaren was some three-tenths quicker than the rest of the field, although sprint qualifying in China saw that advantage disappear. Pole for Oscar Piastri for the main grand prix took the advantage back, albeit with the pack much closer than a week prior.

Max Verstappen finished second at Albert Park and fourth at the Shanghai International Circuit, with blistering pace on the final stint to overcome Charles Leclerc's Ferrari and chase down Mercedes' George Russell for third and asked how the team can develop to catch McLaren in a year where an eye is turned to new regulations for 2026, Horner told media post-race: "I think we've got a reasonable basis."

Areas for Red Bull to improve

"You know, we were 0.17 off pole and we were as quick on the second stint as a McLaren," he added. "So we know there are areas that we need to improve the car and there's a road map of development that is planned. Now, obviously, we're trying to make sure that that develops what we need in terms of lap time to really find a little bit more pace and put a lot of pressure on the McLarens ahead. They're not that far ahead."

"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. I think, again, we've got a lot of information, a lot of data and feedback from the driver. The second stint, as I say, if I had a race properly, you could see, just have a look at the lap times, last third of the race, I mean, you even look at his last lap, it was very competitive."

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