McLaren has proven that it has potent cars so far this 2025 Formula 1 season. Lando Norris secured the first victory of the season at the Australian Grand Prix, and although Oscar Piastri had to recover from a costly spin, he still finished in the points. Red Bull, on the other hand, celebrated a second-place finish with Max Verstappen, but Liam Lawson retired from the race after hitting the wall.
Red Bull chief Christian Horner commented on McLaren’s strong showing, adding that the Milton Keynes outfit was simply unable to keep up with the pace, something that advisor Helmut Marko agreed with.
“[McLaren] have a well-balanced car, particularly in sector three, they look strong,” said Horner.
“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 a little, initially Lando, but I think we were just a little heavier on the tar, particularly in the last sector.
“So then that gap started to open. Oscar was able to get back past Max. And the inters, it was interesting because right at the end of the inters it started to come back again and we started to be very competitive again.
“At the pit stop, we went on to the mediums and I was somewhat surprised to see everybody going onto hards on a damp track, and we felt that would give a better warm-up and so on. And then the rain came again, and it was only really in the last sector.
“The first two sectors were quick, and it very nearly paid off to get over and get the lead, but in the end, when it all played out, he 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.
“I think Lando looked like he tightened a little bit at the end of the race. He made a mistake at Turn 6, went half off the track. 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.
“Very, very close finish to an exciting race.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Marko also explained to Viaplay:
“We can match them for six-eight laps, but then our tyre degradation comes earlier, and that’s the main problem we have to work on.
“But through the conditions and changing safety car and so on, Max was there and I think in the last six laps he was the faster guy, but of course there was just one dry line and overtaking was not possible, so what he tried is to push Lando into a mistake. Didn’t do so, but I think it’s a very good result for us and it will be a tough season.”
Lawson didn’t start the season off as he would have liked after crashing in the latter stages of the race. Speaking about the Kiwi driver’s “difficult” weekend, Horner added:
“It was a difficult weekend for him. We changed the car to put a bit more downforce on the car; it’s a very hard track to overtake at. We took the risk of leaving him out because he was outside the points and we thought, you know what, roll the dice, maybe it’ll come right.
“But [that was] exactly the point that it started to rain more, so it’s difficult to blame him for that. You know, for that last spin, I think the one flash of light that he can take out of it is that on the dry tyres he actually posted the second fastest lap time of the Grand Prix.
“So, I think if there was one positive, we can take that his pace actually is not too bad.”
He added:
“Next weekend will be tough because it’s a sprint race at the track that he’s not been to before, but he’s pretty resilient. This weekend it wasn’t representative of what he’s what he’s capable of.”
Racing Bull’s rookie driver Isack Hadjar crashed on the formation lap, causing him to retire from his first race before it even started. Speaking about the driver of the Red Bull sister team, Horner commented:
“Yeah, look, I mean, it was quite heart-wrenching to see him so gutted, you know, his first Grand Prix.
“I think the positives he needs to take out of it when he reflects on the weekend, he performed very well through the practises and the qualifying. You forget that these guys are just kids really, and obviously a lot of emotion for him today, but I think when he strips it back, there’s an awful lot of positives he can take out of the weekend and he’s got many bright days ahead of him.”
