Red Bull unimpressed by 22-second McLaren statement: “It doesn’t scare us”

Lando Norris dominated the Dutch GP last weekend, finishing 22 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, who took second place. The official Formula 1 social media account described the win as a “statement” that many agreed with. However, Red Bull boss Christian Horner was not fazed by the performance gap between his team and McLaren.

Horner admitted that such a heavy defeat was not ideal, but he also noted that in Formula 1, progress can be made in a short space of time. Not so long ago, it was Red Bull that was winning races effortlessly.

“…it doesn't scare us in any way. It just makes us aware that we have to turn things around. We have to do it right.”said Horner.

Red Bull never looked like it could fight for the win at Zandvoort. Verstappen took the lead from Norris on the first lap, but 16 laps later the Briton overtook him and drove the rest of the Grand Prix unchallenged. Verstappen settled for P2 on a day when he could not have stopped Norris's charge.

Horner added that Verstappen has also won races by more than 20 seconds when everything went right for them, as was the case for McLaren in the Netherlands on Sunday.

In addition, the layout of the Zandvoort track suited McLaren. Horner had expected a strong race from the team from Woking and was therefore not too concerned about the result.

Horner addresses Norris' mistake

McLaren introduced new improvements to its car in Miami and shortly afterwards Norris won his first F1 Grand Prix. The British team then developed the fastest car on the track, but Norris failed to win any of the following nine races.

Horner emphasised this, pointing to Norris' 2024 win record in relation to McLaren's championship hopes. He said Sky Sports,

“We're lucky that they underperformed at the start of the year, so we have a 70-point lead, but that can disappear pretty quickly. It's notable that this is only Lando's second win in this car.”

At the same time, Horner acknowledged that Norris performed well under pressure. Now it is up to Red Bull to respond in the remaining nine races of the 2024 season.

Norris is currently 70 points behind Verstappen in the standings. Although this gives Verstappen a comfortable lead, he will be keen to secure the title before the final stages of the season.

However, it will not be so easy for Red Bull in the constructors' championship. The gap is only 30 points and Red Bull could lose P1 to McLaren at the US GP.