Christian Horner admits « he’s not even thinking about the championship » after a frustrating Austrian GP
Christian Horner expressed his frustration after a nightmarish Austrian Grand Prix for Red Bull, which left its home race without a single point.
Max Verstappen only completed two corners on the Red Bull Ring before being hit by Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, who misjudged his braking at turn 3. The Italian was penalized with a three-place grid penalty for Silverstone.
A frustrating day for Red Bull
Yuki Tsunoda, for his part, finished last in 16th position. Eliminated from Q1, he struggled to climb back up the pack and received a 10-second penalty for spinning Franco Colapinto’s Alpine at the exit of turn 4.
This result widens the gap in the Constructors’ Championship: Red Bull remains stuck at 162 points, far behind McLaren (417 points), while Max Verstappen is now 61 points behind Oscar Piastri in the Drivers’ standings.
“A frustrating day,” summarized Christian Horner on F1 TV after the race. “Max had a great start, well positioned in turn 1. But in turn 3, Kimi lost control and completely took him out. Very frustrating… Kimi apologized, but that’s how it is.”
Honestly, we couldn’t have fought with the McLarens today, but we could have fought hard with the Ferraris. George [Russell] didn’t have the pace. So yes, frustrating.
« For Yuki, it was complicated to make progress starting from so far back. On top of that, he takes a penalty with Colapinto. A horrible race for him as well. We move on to something else and head to Silverstone », he declares.
Red Bull must do better
When asked about the ongoing difficulties of the driver alongside Max Verstappen, Christian Horner acknowledged that Red Bull needed to dig deeper. “We must understand what didn’t work for Yuki this weekend. In FP2 and FP3, it was still okay, but everything fell apart in qualifying. When you start so far back on the grid, in such a tight pack… he loses confidence, clearly. But we will work with him, help him to progress,” he explains.
« The car has evolved over the years according to a certain philosophy. It’s not an easy car to drive, but it’s not a nightmare either. We’re going to work with it, and I hope it will take a step forward at Silverstone. »
With the gaps widening in both championships, Christian Horner acknowledges that the hopes for titles in 2025 are diminishing.
To be honest, we don’t even think about the championship anymore. We’re just focusing on each race. McLaren is too far ahead. We’re going to take it race by race.
Max Verstappen remains a quadruple reigning champion, and Red Bull had won the Constructors’ Championships in 2022 and 2023 before being dethroned by McLaren last season.
