Red Bull’s Christian Horner believes Lando Norris was fully aware Max Verstappen could have “sent it” at any moment in the final two laps of the Australian Grand Prix.

Norris won the Australian Grand Prix by less than a second, having come under intense pressure from Max Verstappen in the final laps of the race.

Christian Horner: Lando Norris tightened up a little bit

Norris had led the Melbourne race from pole position, heading off Verstappen’s attentions early in the race after the Red Bull driver cleared Oscar Piastri on the opening lap.

But a mistake from Verstappen on his rapidly deteriorating intermediate tyres allowed Piastri through – the Australian scampering up the road to catch up on Norris, before being given an instruction to hold station just before a Safety Car intervention.

Shortly after the Safety Car, rain began to fall on Albert Park, and mistakes from the McLaren drivers allowed Verstappen through into the lead, albeit still on dry tyres as Norris came in for intermediates.

Verstappen initially attempted to keep going on the slick tyres, but was forced to pit by the worsening conditions – it shook out with Norris leading ahead of Verstappen for a tense showdown to the chequered flag in the closing laps.

Applying the pressure, Verstappen got within striking distance as Norris made an error at Turn 6, but ultimately had to settle for second place, and Red Bull boss Christian Horner said he believed that the British driver had started to get nervous in the closing stages as Verstappen closed in.

“I think Lando looked like he tightened a little bit at the end of the race,” Horner told media in Australia.

“He made a mistake at Turn 6, went half off the track and that gave Max a little bit of a run at a track that’s very difficult to overtake, and then, the next lap, he got another run.

“But yeah, a very, very close finish to an exciting race. For us, I think it’s a very solid start to what’s going to be a marathon of a year.”

Given how close Verstappen got in the drying conditions at the end of the race, could he have cleared the McLaren with another lap or two?

“You never know,” Horner said.

“They had enough fuel to do another five laps, with all the Safety Cars, but you never know – the chequered flag is what it is.

“I thought, if he got a half a chance, he was just going to send it! And I think Lando knew that as well.”

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Christian Horner: Red Bull heavier on tyres than McLaren

While Verstappen had been able to keep up the pressure on Norris early in the first stint, it was as the tyres aged that his challenge faded.

This is roughly in keeping with what was seen during pre-season testing in Bahrain, when McLaren’s tyre degradation (or lack thereof) was spotted during consistent and fast race runs.

Horner confirmed Red Bull’s heavier usage of the tyre had made a critical difference in the battle.

“I think McLaren obviously have a well-balanced car,” he said, “particularly in Sector 3, they look strong.

“Max made a good start, got a little boxed in, but then a great move around the outside of Oscar, and was able to challenge Lando a little, initially.

“But I think we were just a little heavier on the tyre, particularly in the last sector. So then that gap started to open, Oscar was able to get back past Max.

“The inters were interesting because, right at the end of the stint, it started to come back again, and we started to look very competitive again.”

The key moment in reigniting Verstappen’s race came at the supposed final pitstops as Red Bull fitted him with medium compound tyres – up against the hard tyre of Norris – a decision that seemed a no-brainer to Horner.

“At the pit stop, we went on to the mediums, and I was somewhat surprised to see everybody going on to hards on a damp track,” he said.

“We felt that mediums would give a better warm up and so on.

“Then the rain came again, and it was only wet, really, in the last sector. The first two sectors were quick, and it very nearly paid off to get the overcut and get the lead.

“But, in the end, when it all played out, he’d managed to jump back up into second for what became an eight-lap shootout to the finish, and he very nearly nicked it at the end there.”

Briefly, it appeared as though Red Bull were going to try braving out the rain following McLaren’s offs – Verstappen’s use of the medium tyre allowing him to keep temperature in the tyres for longer than the McLarens had been able to. Verstappen kept his car pointing in the right direction as the rain intensified, but it became clear he had to pit for intermediates and follow suit with what McLaren did with Norris.

“That’s where you’re working with the driver,” Horner explained.

“The first two sectors were quick but the third sector was so down at that point. We knew that the rain wasn’t going to hang around for long and, if you could just bank that track position, it’s so valuable here because you just can’t overtake.

“So that’s what we were rolling the dice a little – McLaren were super conservative.

“Both of their drivers had big moments, and it looked like it might just play out, but if the rain had veered off, then we could have been lucky.

“But congratulations to Lando. He drove a good race today and in difficult conditions for all of the drivers.

“We take a lot of encouragement out of that race, the pace we had at the end – the other teams, it was clear what the pecking order was today in terms of pace.”

Asked about where he believes McLaren’s tyre advantage is coming from, given what looks like a large advantage over the rest of the field, Horner said, “I think it’s different to everybody.  And what’s quite strange is that they enjoy great warm up but, also, very low degradation – usually one comes at the expense of the other. So they’ve, certainly at this circuit, seem to have mastered that.”

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