Christian Horner admits it will be “very difficult” for Max Verstappen to stop Lando Norris from winning the world championship if Red Bull cannot respond to McLaren’s surge.
Norris crushed Verstappen at the Dutch Grand Prix to win by more than 20 seconds with the British driver’s McLaren team now possessing the quickest car in Formula One.
Verstappen won seven of the opening 10 rounds, but he has not tasted victory in two months, and the Dutchman’s title lead has been reduced to 70 points with 258 still to play for.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Horner said: “Based on (Sunday’s) performance, if it was like that at the next nine races, then yes, it would be very difficult (for Verstappen to win the championship).
“We’re lucky that McLaren under-performed in the early part of the year, and we’ve got a 70-point buffer, but that can diminish pretty quickly.
“McLaren has been the benchmark car over the last few races, and we are very acutely aware that we need to respond.
“It’s not rocket science but there are no silver bullets in this business. It’s a matter of understanding the problem, addressing the problem, and then implementing fixes to it.
“It’s remarkable that was only Lando’s second win in that car. But he is driving well, he’s finding confidence, and the pressure is on us to respond.
“We’re used to being in championship fights over the years. We’ll dig deep and we’re going to fight with everything we’ve got over the remaining nine races.”
Red Bull’s shaky form – which comes after design guru Adrian Newey’s departure in the wake of the Horner scandal that rocked the team at the beginning of the year – has raised further questions about Verstappen’s future.
The 26-year-old is under contract until 2028 but Mercedes – who are expected to confirm this week that Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows next season – are hopeful of wooing the Dutchman for the start of the sport’s next regulation change in 18 months.
George Russell and team-mate Hamilton finished seventh and eighth respectively in Zandvoort.
“I find it surprising how much open discussion there is in the media about this topic,” said Horner. “The situation was always clear between ourselves and Max.
“Others can talk, but we’re comfortable with where we’re at. It’s down to us to deliver and to provide a race-winning car. I didn’t see Toto’s car performing that well today.”