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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner acknowledges the urgency of addressing performance issues following a disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix, which fueled speculation about Max Verstappen's future with the team.
Despite securing four consecutive drivers' championships with Verstappen, Red Bull has appeared significantly off the pace compared to McLaren in the initial two races of the season.
While a remarkable pole position and victory for Verstappen in Japan offered a glimpse of the car's potential, his seventh-place qualifying position and subsequent struggles in Bahrain, compounded by two slow pit stops, resulted in a sixth-place finish.
Following the race, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko expressed significant concern to Sky Sports Deutschland regarding Verstappen's future with the team.
Horner conceded that the success in Suzuka masked persistent issues that require immediate attention.
Horner said: “I think this race has exposed some pitfalls that are obviously very clear that we need to get on top of very quickly.
“I think ultimately you can mask it a little through setup and we were able to achieve that last weekend in Suzuka.
“I think we understand where the issues are, it’s introducing the solutions that obviously take a little more time.”
Verstappen told Dutch media after qualifying that he was “taking part” in the championship and not fighting for it.
“Look it was a bad weekend for the team, nothing went our way from the start of the race, we didn’t get off the line cleanly and pit stops didn’t work well for us today,” Horner added.
“But it’s a 24-race championship, we’re eight points behind in the drivers championship and we know we need to make progress very quickly.
“So it was important today to score the most points and he fought for every point that he could in a difficult car today, so it’s how they add up at the end of the year that’s important.”
Oscar Piastri cruised to victory at the Sakhir circuit ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris.
It means Norris leads Piastri by three points after four races, with Verstappen eight points off the lead and six ahead of Russell.
Verstappen insists he is not getting too down about his struggles in the car ahead of the next round in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
“I don’t need to reset. I’m ok, it is what it is. I always try to do the best I can even when it is disappointing or frustrating situations,” he said.
“You have to move on and we keep discussing, trying to improve. We know that we have our problems even if you win a race that does not go away.
“We just have to keep on working.”
English (US) ·