Horner says McLaren have "made a bed" with their driver lineup after Verstappen's Suzuka victory

Christian Horner has said that McLaren have "made a bed" with its driver lineup, meaning they could not challenge Max Verstappen for victory at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Red Bull team principal believes it was one of Verstappen's "best weekend's that he has had" in Formula 1 to take his first victory of 2025, finishing ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in P2 and P3, respectively.

The Australian looked like he had some late race pace over his British teammate, believing he had the chance to put some pressure on Max Verstappen in the closing stages. He voiced that over the team radio, asking Norris to speed up, but McLaren did not switch the positions around, potentially costing them.

As a result, Norris could not find enough pace to get within the one-second DRS gap of the Dutchman, struggling to find time around the Suzuka circuit that would put the Dutchman under pressure, while Piastri continued to have DRS and pressure his own teammate.

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Horner speaks on McLarens "comprimise"

Speaking in the paddock after the Grand Prix in Suzuka, Horner was asked if he would have swapped Norris and Piastri around if he was at McLaren.

"I guess the problem they have is they have two drivers that are fighting for the drivers' championship," said the Brit.

"I guess the difficulty they have is that they've made a bed where they're going to let them race, so that's the compromise that inevitably comes with that."

There was the potential for Norris to also undercut Verstappen during the race, a very powerful strategy at Suzuka, but that was not taken up by McLaren either.

"The undercut was reasonably powerful. I mean, could have, should have, would have. I'm sure I would have been down a bit there," continued Horner when asked if McLaren should have changed strategy.

Verstappen worked "very hard" for Suzuka win

But even with a change in team orders or strategy from McLaren, Horner would still be seeing Verstappen on the top step of the podium, he believes, cashing in on his stunning pole position on Saturday.

"I think that's one of Max's best weekends that he's had. We literally turned the car upside down, set up wise. He's worked very hard with the engineering team. Finally, we were able to give him a car that he could make use of in Q3 yesterday with the most stunning lap, and then convert that today into a hard-fought victory in a straight fight.

"It puts him one point behind in the Drivers' Championship, so we leave Japan still with plenty of work to do, but huge motivation," concluded Horner.