Horner knows winning in Japan's not likely: 'Difficult to cover both McLarens'

07:14, 06 Apr 2025

byNorberto Mujica

Red Bull Racing's team principal, Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen's pole lap for the Japanese Grand Prix was sublime, but sees that the Dutchman will now be outnumbered for the race.

How did the pole come about for Verstappen? Horner answers in Sky Sports. "Well, I think he, with his engineering team, they turned the car upside down and, you know, set up wise, downforce, up, down."

"Almost everything that could have changed, changed. And finally, they were able to give him something that he could really work with."

"And even through the qualifying, the tuning, the preparation lap, the front wing, the tire pressures. And he just nailed that last lap. It was absolutely sublime."

Verstappen outnumbered by both McLarens

But can Verstappen convert his pole into a win? "Well look, to be honest with you, the McLarens, they look seriously quick and with two cars in the fight, you know it's difficult to cover both of them. So we've just got to try and get our heads down, get stuck into the race and see how it plays out."

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	51
2	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	47
3	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	34
4	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	33
5	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	17
6	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	15
7	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	9
8	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	8
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	8
10	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	4
11	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	4
12	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	3
13	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	2
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
15	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	1
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	0
17	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
18	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	0
19	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
20	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
21	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Horner knows winning in Japan's not likely: 'Difficult to cover both McLarens'

byNorberto Mujica

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