Christian Horner makes the case for Max Verstappen winning 2025 F1 title: “Long way to go”

Max Verstappen and Red Bull came into the 2025 season as the second-best, with McLaren having the dominant car. Oscar Piastri ran away with the championship lead in the first 9 races, creating a buffer of 49 points to the Dutchman. However, Christian Horner recently came out and made the case for Verstappen winning the 2025 F1 title.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have the advantage with the superior McLaren that has won 7 of the eight races so far this season. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, only has two wins to his name, which came in Japan and Imola.

Coming into the Canadian GP weekend, McLaren and Ferrari were expected to be the quickest, given the mechanical grip-related characteristics of the circuit, while Red Bull was expected to struggle. However, it was the other way around with the Dutchman fighting for the win against George Russell.

F1 Grand Prix of Canada - Source: Getty

Red Bull boss Christian Horner came out after the Canadian GP and commented on Max Verstappen's chances of winning the championship. The Dutchman finished the race ahead of both the McLarens and reduced the gap to the championship leader.

“There is still a long way to go. We're not even halfway there. We had a good weekend in Barcelona. A few races ago we won in Imola of course and as Sunday showed, anything can happen,” said Christian Horner “You just have to hold on. It's a long championship. We don't give up, we keep fighting until the end. If anyone is going to do that, it's definitely Max,” he added

Coming into the Canadian GP, Piastri led the driver's championship with a 10-point lead over Lando Norris in P2. Verstappen, on the other hand, was 49 and 39 points behind the two McLaren drivers. After the Canadian GP, the Dutchman is 43 points behind Oscar and just 21 points behind Lando Norris. The Briton crashed out in the final 5 laps of the race.

Max Verstappen's title challenge is hindered as Red Bull doesn't have any major upgrades planned

The 2026 regulation change is just around the corner, with Red Bull planning on shifting resources to the 2026 car. As a result, the team doesn't have any major upgrades planned until the end of the season. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko spoke about the same as he said,

“We're working tirelessly on this and will continue to make small adjustments, but nothing major is planned. We've had some major updates in the past, such as a new underbody and new sidepods. But now it's more about the details. We'll continue developing as long as there's a chance in the World Championship. After that, the focus will shift entirely to the 2026 project.”

Red Bull brought a major upgrade to the RB21 over the Saudi Arabian, Miami, and Imola GP, which has improved the car, but is still a couple of tenths away from McLaren's pure pace. Despite the upgrades, Max Verstappen struggled at the Spanish GP and in Monaco.

Edited by pranavsethii