Spielberg, June 30 Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted his team is not even thinking about the championship battle after a disappointing Austrian Grand Prix, where the team did not conjure a single point.
Given the significant gap that has developed in both championships, Horner knows Verstappen and Red Bull now face a tall order to add to their recent title successes in 2025.
"Well, look, the championship we’re not even thinking about,” he conceded. “We’re just focused on each race now. They’re [McLaren] a long way out of touch. We’ll just take things race by race,” said Horner to F1 TV.
McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are in the battle for the Drivers Championship with 216 and 201 points, respectively, with defending champion Verstappen sitting at 11 points. The British manufacturers are currently at 417 points, miles ahead of second-placed Ferrari, who have 210 points to their name.
"A frustrating day. Starting with Max, he had a great start and was well-positioned for Turn 1. At Turn 3, unfortunately, Kimi just lost control and wiped him out. Very frustrating… Obviously, Kimi’s apologised. It is what it is," Horner added.
Verstappen was taken out in the first lap by Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and had to call curtains on his race, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda’s struggles continued as he got a 10-second time penalty – along with two penalty points – for causing a collision with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
"With Yuki, it’s difficult to make progress starting where he did on the grid, then picking up a penalty as well with Colapinto. A horrible race for him today as well. Frustrating, but we’ll move on quickly to Silverstone.
"The car is… it’s a car that’s evolved over the years around the development path that we’ve taken. It isn’t an easy car to drive, but it’s not that difficult either. We’ll work with him and hopefully it’ll make a step up in Silverstone," he said.
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