Red Bull has a plan to catch McLaren, says Horner
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the team has mapped out exactly how they’ll close the gap to McLaren at the front of the Formula 1 grid.
The once-dominant Red Bull team is suddenly playing catch-up.
After ruling F1 since the current technical regulations came in, Red Bull has started struggling with its car while McLaren figured out how to make theirs faster.
The gap was pretty obvious in Australia. McLaren was three-tenths quicker than everyone else in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. That advantage disappeared during sprint qualifying in China, but Oscar Piastri grabbed pole for the main race anyway.
The pack was much closer together than the week before, though.
Max Verstappen finished second at Albert Park and fourth in Shanghai. He showed blistering pace in the final stint, passing Charles Leclerc‘s Ferrari and chasing down Mercedes’ George Russell for third place.
Where Red Bull needs to improve
"I think we’ve got a reasonable basis," Horner told media after the race when asked how they can develop to catch McLaren while also keeping an eye on the new 2026 regulations.
"We were just 0.17 off pole and we were as quick on the second stint as a McLaren."
The team knows exactly what needs fixing.
"There are areas that we need to improve the car and there’s a road map of development that is planned," Horner explained. "We’re trying to make sure that develops what we need in terms of lap time to really find a little bit more pace and put a lot of pressure on the McLarens ahead."
The good news for Red Bull fans? According to Horner, "They’re not that far ahead."
Red Bull has collected plenty of data to work with from recent races. Horner pointed to Verstappen’s performance in the final part of the Shanghai race as proof their car still has serious speed.
"Just have a look at the lap times in the last third of the race," he said. "Even look at his last lap – it was very competitive."
We’ll see if Red Bull’s development plan works in just two weeks at the next race.
