Red Bull F1 team boss and CEO Christian Horner believes the inherent pace of the RB21 was enough to ward off any threat from the McLarens at the 2025 Imola GP, as Max Verstappen managed to comfortably pull away despite a late safety car that bunched up the field.
Verstappen started second on the grid behind pole-sitter Oscar Piastri, but roared around the outside of the first corner in a breath-taking move to take the lead – and from there onwards, the Dutchman never looked back.
Although he was helped by some timely safety car interventions after Esteban Ocon and subsequently Kimi Antonelli retired with technical issues and stopped on track, the underlying pace in the Red Bull was enough to keep both McLaren drivers behind despite a late safety car.
Red Bull had pace to cover “whatever” McLaren did
When asked in his print media session if a slightly different execution from McLaren – in allowing Norris to go ahead of Piastri in the final few laps – would’ve put Verstappen’s GP win under threat, Horner said they had the pace to cover “whatever” McLaren F1 could throw at them in Imola:
“I think today we had the pace to cover whatever they could throw at us,” he told print media after the race. “Obviously we were sort of more surprised about McLaren’s lack of performance.
“We definitely got the car into a very good window [in qualifying], and Max [Verstappen] was certainly very positive about the balance and being able to lean on the rear of the car.
“That was certainly a positive and then that carried through it and he certainly felt taking that into the race would just, you know, just in a better balance window. And that proved to be the case.”
Verstappen “win it or bin it” first lap move
When asked about Verstappen’s bold manoeuvre in the first corner, Horner explained how the reigning world champion actually had an “average” start, but benefitted from the fact Piastri was rather focused on George Russell’s lightning start and left just enough racing room for the now four-time Imola GP winner to roar around the outside:
“The start was pretty average,” he admitted. “It was the first corner, and I think maybe Oscar [Piastri] was more focused on [George] Russell].
“He left the slightest of gaps, and Max just sent it, and it was kind of ‘win it or bin it’. And again, he’s just so good in that situation where he just sees a gap, and it’s so decisive from him.
“But thereafter, we just had the pace to pull out a gap. We had the margin on tyre [degradation], that we can see were in a bit better shape than the McLaren’s.
“Then, obviously, the VSC came out. That was at an opportune time, circa mid-race and then the [full] safety car came out, which was another essentially free pit stop for the first couple of guys.
“But at all times, Max, you know, he had the pace, he was able to respond. It never felt that we were under pressure from behind.”
“Commendable” from McLaren to allow intra-team battle
Strategy played a key part in the race, as teams and drivers got to grips with the all-new C6 compound throughout the weekend. Piastri was the first of the front-runners to stop, and at first it seemed an inspired choice, as both he and Charles Leclerc started to quickly make inroads on the cars ahead.
But that all changed when they hit traffic that hadn’t stopped yet, which heavily halted and even regressed their early progress. Horner believes that allowed Verstappen to build his advantage, along with a late twist in the form of an intra-team battle between the two McLaren F1 drivers, which he described as “commendable” from their rivals to allow such battling in the tight Imola GP:
“I think Oscar had obviously pushed quite hard early on, and you could see he was starting to get a little bit of graining on that front right, and so it was borderline whether it was going to be a two-stop or one-stop,” Horner reflected. “They obviously pulled the trigger on the two-stop, but it dropped you out into, because of the length of the pit lane here being 27 seconds, it put him into a world of pain traffic-wise.
“Max was then able to keep running, and the [tyre] deg was super low, and even with Lando [Norris] in clean air behind, we were able to manage quite easily a nine, nine and a half second gap.
“And then obviously the VSC came out, the pit stop was pretty straightforward, and then of course Oscar pitted again on his strategy, which sort of neutralised him, but by that time he’d used both of his hard tyres.
“[In] that final safety car, obviously Max pitted, Lando pitted, but it dropped him behind Oscar.
“[When] you’ve got two drivers that are fighting for a world championship, you know, at some point self-interest will always outweigh team interest, that’s the conflict.
“So they did a good job to not make contact, but it was commendable that they were allowed to race, but you could see it got pretty close.”
Out-pacing McLaren for the first time since Interlagos in 2024
The 51-year-old, celebrating the team’s 400th grand prix this weekend – and his 400th race at the helm of the squad – explained how there was already an inkling of their strong form since the opening stint, when Verstappen gradually pulled away from Piastri, who started to struggle with his tyres. He noted it was probably the first time since the 2024 São Paulo GP that Red Bull completely out-paced McLaren and had better degradation:
“I think the first stint was really encouraging, because we could see that he was managing more than the guys behind, so he was driving very smartly and still pulling out a gap, and that’s always a happy place to be in.
“You get the longevity, and it’s the first time in quite a while that we’ve been in that position.
“So then the next stint was really about bringing the tyre in gently and not thrashing it, and likewise the final stint was a straight 10-lap race in the end, and he was able to really get the hammer down.
“I think definitely we’ve managed to put some performance on the car and get the car into a better window,” he added. “As soon as you take away the sliding, you’re able to manage the temperature a lot better. And you know, that was really encouraging. I mean, the McLaren’s on Friday, again, looked very, very fast on the long runs.
“But to have the pace that we did in the raceI would say that’s probably, since certainly Brazil last year, which was obviously a wet race, that’s the first time I can remember in a long time we’ve had the pace to really pull away and out-deg the McLaren.
“So that’s very encouraging, you know, and a great result for the effort that’s gone in behind the scenes.”
“Positive weekend” for champiosnhip momentum
He also pointed out the team’s been on an upward trajectory recently, as they also showed possibly race-winning pace in the Saudi Arabian GP, that was then undermined by Verstappen’s penalty for forcing Piastri off in the first corner.
Horner described the Imola GP as a “very positive” weekend that allows them to build momentum in what is a critical part of the F1 season, with the Spanish GP flexi-wing technical directive looming large and set to take effect in the competitive order:
“I think generally we’re getting a better grip and a better understanding, and I think that the technical team have been working very hard on it, and I think that’s a second win, arguably we should have won in Jeddah on the front row yesterday.
So, yeah, it’s been a very positive weekend, and I think we’re building a bit of momentum, which is important at this stage in the Championship.”
