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Max Verstappen's turbulent Sunday at Silverstone ended in frustration for both himself and his team, Red Bull. Despite starting from pole position in the 2025 British Grand Prix, the Dutchman had to settle for fifth after a rain-affected contest, and Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner, expressed his disappointment post-race.
Saturday belonged to Max Verstappen. The Dutchman overcame tricky wind and setup limitations to edge the McLarens to pole in qualifying. But Sunday's British Grand Prix told a different story. Five yellow flags, four DNFs, and inconsistent weather shaped the race from start to finish.
Verstappen initially held the lead, but an untimely spin and limited wet-weather performance on Red Bull's low-downforce setup dropped him down the order. As Lando Norris surged to his maiden home victory and Nico Hulkenberg claimed a fairytale podium, Red Bull found itself watching the top three from a distance. Horner had his hopes pinned on Verstappen as he was the only Red Bull driver with a realistic shot at victory, as Yuki Tsunoda had qualified 11th and was clearly struggling for rhythm.
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Christian Horner, blunt in his evaluation, opened up about the rain-marred affair and how luck wasn't in favor of Verstappen, their star driver.
"It was a difficult race, and had the race been two hours later, it could've been a different outcome, but it would have been very tough to beat the McLarens, but we should've been on the podium," mentioned Horner [via Racingnews365]
Christian Horner's frustration stemmed from more than just finishing fifth. Red Bull's car lacked traction on the slippery Silverstone track, and Verstappen was caught out at a key restart, spinning and falling out of podium contention.
Verstappen's Sunday started well enough. Leading into Turn 1, he held off Oscar Piastri in the opening laps. But the moment it became a wet-dry chess match, Red Bull's weaknesses surfaced. The RB21, designed around low drag and minimal downforce, couldn't get its tires working in mixed conditions.
By Lap 8, Piastri had passed Max Verstappen. As the track worsened, Norris also reeled him in as he went wide. Red Bull reacted with a double-stack pit call for new intermediates, and while Verstappen briefly jumped Norris in the pits, he couldn't hold the position for long.
Horner acknowledged this structural disadvantage.
"It was very clear early on that Oscar had quite an advantage pace-wise, and as the tyres overheated as it was drying out, it was evident McLaren was miles ahead of the rest of the pack, and we were just trying to get to the point where the rain started," he added.
It was a waiting game that didn’t pay off. The rain eased at just the wrong moment for Verstappen, allowing the McLarens to check out while Red Bull scrambled for grip. By the final stint, Verstappen found some late rhythm on slicks, passing Stroll to recover to fifth, but it was a far cry from the expectations set by pole.
"We are not in the fight for the championships": Max Verstappen on a fading 2025 title hope
At the second safety car restart on Lap 21, Oscar Piastri bunched the field aggressively. While Max Verstappen escaped him, he eventually lost control just meters into green-flag conditions, dropping to P10. From there, it was about damage limitation.
The move was deemed by the FIA to have braked too sharply behind the safety car and a breach of Article 55.15. The stewards handed Piastri a 10-second penalty for the infraction, which he served during his final pit stop. While it ultimately cost him the victory to Lando Norris, Verstappen had already dropped out of podium contention.
Max Verstappen, speaking in tandem with Christian Horner's observations, conceded the race was out of reach regardless of the incident (via F1).
"We were no match anyway with the McLarens , and on the other hand when we've a difficult day, we try to collect points... we've nothing to lose, nothing to gain. We're not in the fight for the championships, so we tried to just see every race as a one-off and try to maximize everything."
Red Bull, for all their past dominance, have slipped to fourth in the Constructors' standings on 172 points, behind Mercedes (210) and Ferrari (222). McLaren, meanwhile, sit far ahead with 460.
In the Drivers' table, Oscar Piastri (234) leads teammate Lando Norris (226) by eight points. Verstappen, on 165, has effectively written off his hopes of a fifth consecutive title, while George Russell has accumulated 147 points.
