Christian Horner has presided over a remarkable situation at Red Bull in 2025. But he may be quietly satisfied.
His lead driver, Max Verstappen, has scored 155 points in the first 10 rounds. Verstappen confirmed after finishing second in the Canadian Grand Prix that Red Bull have more upgrades in the pipeline.
If those updates deliver, then it could be enough for the Dutchman to remain a dark horse in the title race. McLaren have won seven out of 10 races but their disappointing showing in Montreal offers some hope to competitors.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
374 |
| 2 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
199 |
| 3 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
183 |
| 4 |
Red Bull Racing |
162 |
On the other side of the garage, Yuki Tsunoda has contributed just seven points. Predecessor Liam Lawson, who lasted just two races, didn’t score at all.
Red Bull are planning to replace Tsunoda at the end of the season, but they don’t sound overly concerned by his virtually non-existent production. That’s because they’re unashamedly all-in on Verstappen extending his title streak.
Red Bull are willing to go further than their F1 rivals to help Max Verstappen
Horner and Red Bull will do whatever it takes to support Verstappen’s championship bid. With a clear performance deficit to McLaren, they feel they have to explore alternative avenues.
Red Bull bombarded the FIA with complaints about McLaren’s car, specifically focusing on their rear-tyre cooling. The MCL39 has been inspected and found to be in full compliance with the regulations.
Still, Horner has leaked information to the media about FIA technical directives in the hope of destabilising McLaren. It’s still too early to say how big an impact the much-anticipated front-wing clampdown in Spain has had on them.
Most recently, Red Bull have turned their attention to Mercedes. They protested the result of the Canadian GP after alleging that George Russell deliberately tried to get Verstappen penalised by braking unnecessarily hard behind the safety car.
Asked why Red Bull ‘lodge so many protests’ – it’s the second time they’ve done so in 2025 after another complaint about Russell in Miami – the BBC’s Andrew Benson said: “F1 is an extreme environment which is all about going right up to the edge of the rules to try to gain a competitive advantage.
“Red Bull’s credo is to push to the absolute limit in every possible area, and that includes having no compunction about trying to use the stewards and the FIA to their benefit in whatever way they feel they can. Not all their rivals are comfortable going quite as far as Red Bull do in such situations.”
Does F1 need to change the rules to stop Red Bull protests?
Mercedes dismantled Red Bull’s protest in front of the stewards, pointing to data that showed Verstappen braking just as hard behind the safety car.
Toto Wolff was furious with Horner for challenging the result, calling it ‘petty’, ’embarrassing’ and ‘ridiculous’. Red Bull were angered by Russell’s comments after qualifying when he made light of Verstappen’s precarious penalty points situation.
Indeed, Red Bull warned the FIA that their competitors might try and play tricks to get the 27-year-old suspended. Verstappen will only carry his 11 points for one more race.
F1 fans complained about the delay in confirming the Canadian GP result, and perhaps there’s an argument to make protests more expensive. That way, teams would be dissuaded from lodging them unless they had an overwhelmingly strong case.
