Horner sees Imola win as a 'very encoruraging' step to close the gap to McLaren

The papaya-coloured team have made a dominant start to the 2025 Formula 1 season, taking five wins out of the first six races to race out to a commanding lead, with Oscar Piastri taking four of those to lead the drivers standings.

However, Max Verstappen and his RB21 worked extremely well in the first European race of the season, wih the McLaren's of Piastri and Lando Norris unable to make any inroads, allowing the Dutchman to take his second victory of the season.

In the Imola paddock, speaking to several media sources, including GPblog, Horner was extremely impressed with the turnaround Red Bull have had so far this season.

"I think, definitely, we've managed to put some performance on the car and get the car into a better window, and as soon as you take away the sliding, you're able to manage the temperature a lot better. That was really encouraging," the team boss said.

"I mean, the McLarens on Friday, again, looked very, very fast on the long runs. But to have the pace that we did in the race today, I 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, and it’s a great result for the effort that's gone in behind the scenes," continued a buoyant Horner.

There was then the question as to whether Red Bull will be able to continue to bring this pace to other circuits, with the Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix upcoming in the second tripleheader of the season.

"I'll tell you in a week!" Horner laughed. "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.

That's a second win, arguably we should have won in Jeddah, on the front row yesterday, so 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," concluded the Brit.