Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen's victory at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix suggests that Red Bulls may have reached a turning point in their attempt to catch up with McLaren in the Formula 1 World Championship, which could inspire the season.

Verstappen won an amazing pass at Imola to surpass the steel pole and title Oscar Piastri and lead the way through Tamburello Chicane in the opening circle. After that, the world champions continued to control Sunday's race from the front, and it wasn't just the McLaren who had previously dominated this season. This marks the first time this year that Red Bull has the upper hand at racing speed and does not overwork the tires, which Horner believes suggests they are in the championship game.

advertise

Related: "A great experience": Lewis Hamilton carnival supports Ferrari at Emilia-Romagna GP

"Max, Max, Max, Max, his pace," said the Red Bulls principal. "He was able to respond. It never felt like we were under pressure from behind. I think we had the ability to cover up everything they could throw at us."

"It's a big win for this stage of the team and the championship. It feels like we've built some momentum behind the scenes. It's a timely championship title. It keeps the pressure and keeps us in touch."

This is just Verstappen's second win this season, Japan's first win, and he claims pole position and track position proved crucial. This time it was his pace that told him that he had closed the gap with Piastri, who is now 22 points behind in the championship game.

advertise

Most important for Red Bull, which brought new floors to Miami's last round and had a smaller upgrade to the Imola, their development seemed to pay off in making their cars more suitable for conditions and tire degradation, a crucial advantage that McLaren did during the season opening phase.

"Of course, we've managed to do some performance on the car and put it in better windows," Horner said. "It's the first time in a long time since last year was a wet race in Brazil, which I remembered that we could really pull away and go beyond the McLaren. It's encouraging."

McLaren principal Andrea Stella shared his views on Red Bull's speed improvement.

"We were a little surprised to say that here, Red Bull's speed is honest," he said. "This game was largely determined by the swap of Oscar and Max at the corner. After that, we tried to chase him, but we didn't actually have enough game pace to beat Max today.

advertise

“They improved and kept driving for the last few games and I think they’ve taken a step forward.”

Horner praised Verstappen for taking a key overtake, but he also noted that the next round in Monaco this weekend will be another test of how far they manage to push the car forward.

"Max just sent it, it was a little win or trash, and in the kind of situation he just saw the gap, it was so good for him, it was so decisive for him."