Red Bull's pit stop mistake meant the RB21 was "not ideal" for Verstappen, Horner reveals

Christian Horner had admitted a pit stop mistake during the Japanese Grand Prix meant that Max Verstappen's RB21 was "not ideal" on track.

The Dutchman took a stunning pole position at Suzuka in what has been a troublesome RB21 to start the 2025 season, finding some unexpected pace to beat the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

However, a pit stop mistake from a reserve crew that was forced to step in at Suzuka meant they did not adjust the front wing, hindering Verstappen's performance.

The Austrian team's slow stop also meant their driver came out of the pits side-by-side with Norris, and the British driver had to go through the grass as they jostled for position. In the end, neither driver received a penalty for the incident.

Read also

Verstappen doesn't surprise Norris: 'Don't need people to tell me how good he is'

Here's where Verstappen stands on Norris incident: 'An expensive lawnmower!'

Horner on Verstappen's Issues

When asked what went wrong with the pit stop, Horner replied: “We didn't get the front wing adjustment that we wanted into the car. So, instead of cranking on a bit more front wing for the hard tyre, we didn't get the adjustment that we wanted.

"That provoked quite a bit more understeer into the car than would have been ideal. But with the performance engineer and engineering team tweaking away at the tools, they were able to help Max compensate a little bit for," concluded the Brit.

This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut