Horner disagrees with Verstappen on title fight: 'He's 8 points off the leader'

Red Bull Racing's team boss, Christian Horner disagrees with Max Verstappen on core topics, the Driver's title situation and Red Bull's understanding of its car's issues.

Horner pushes for the long game amidst Verstappen's F1 title doubts

It was on Saturday evening, after the qualifying session in Bahrain, that Verstappen revealed he thought he was merely an entrant in the F1 World championship, not a title contender. Faced with those comments, Horner tried to temper his driver's words.

"It was a bad weekend for the team. Nothing went our way from the start of the race. We didn’t get off the line cleanly, the pit stops didn’t work well, and the tyre temperatures got very high. When you’ve got a well-balanced car, all of that is much easier to manage," admitted the Briton to media present at the paddock in Bahrain, including GPblog.

"But it’s a 24-race championship. We’re eight points behind in the drivers' championship. We know we need to make progress very quickly. So it was important today to score the most points we could in a difficult car. It's how they add up at the end of the year that matters."

Horner disagrees with Verstappen on Red Bull's understanding of their F1 car's issues

The Dutch world champion, following the tough race in Sakhir, when asked by media present if Red Bull knew where the issues were, he said they should ask the team as he simply did not know, something the Austrian team's chief disagrees with.

"I think we understand what the problem is. It’s about implementing the solution. It’s the entry phase to the mid-corner that needs addressing – giving him the ability, grip, and confidence to carry speed into corners. That’s fundamentally an aero issue."

2025 fix will help further down the line in F1 journey, believes Horner

With 2026 just around the corner, at least by F1's fast-paced times, it will be a tough ask for the team to fix the profound issues that plague its current F1 car, at the same time they are developing their F1 project for 2026, year of the most comprehensive regulations overhaul the sport has experienced since its inception.

However, Horner, begs to differ as he emphasises the marginal gains F1 teams are currently experiencing with this set of regulations coming to an end after this season.

"On 2026 we’re still making big gains, not the final few points of downforce [like in 2025]. The tunnel and tools we have are still capable for those big steps. You also need to understand and fix your current issues, because you'll face similar problems later," concluded Horner.

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