Horner admits McLaren ‘in a league of their own’ as he opens up on Red Bull’s Miami issues

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has shared an honest assessment after his squad and the rest of the Formula 1 field were comfortably outpaced by McLaren during Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.

Red Bull had started on pole position thanks to another supreme Max Verstappen effort over one lap, but McLaren rose to the fore in hot, humid conditions on race day to finish more than half a minute clear of their nearest rivals.

Verstappen, meanwhile, could do no more than fourth at the chequered flag, having been overtaken by Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris early on and jumped by George Russell’s Mercedes under a Virtual Safety Car period.

“Well done to McLaren – they were in a league of their own today, particularly with tyres running at the temperatures that they are,” said Horner afterwards. “They definitely are doing a better job than the rest of the teams and had a very competitive race.”

MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 04: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing — Verstappen claimed pole in Miami but could not beat the McLarens on race day

Horner pointed to brake struggles and a battle to keep tyre temperatures under control when further evaluating the size of the gap between Red Bull and McLaren.

“We had some issues with the brakes that Max hasn’t been happy with, and I think that might be compounding or contributing to the issue,” he continued. “I think the drivers talk about a numbness in the car.

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“So, plenty to go away and reflect on after this race, but I think McLaren just do a better job of keeping their temps – certainly on this type of circuit, at this venue – under control.”

After particularly hot weeks in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami, Horner was asked whether the situation might get easier for Red Bull over the next triple-header sequence in Europe – given that temperatures should be much lower.

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“I think a lot, yeah,” he said. “I mean, we’re back into Europe, different types of circuit, different nature of circuits. [But] McLaren have got the car to beat at the moment, that’s quite clear. They’re going to be going to be tough to beat over the next few races.”

As for Verstappen and Red Bull’s title chances as the 2025 season enters its second quarter, Horner added: “It’s a 24-race championship – there’s a long, long way to go.

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“[McLaren] are looking mightily impressive at this point as we leave Miami. Things can change, but we need to start making an indentation into the points over the coming races.”

As F1 leaves Florida, Verstappen finds himself 32 points behind Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship, while Red Bull are 141 points adrift of McLaren in the Teams’ battle.