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

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.