Red Bull claimed just their second double points finish of the year in Miami, coming home in P4 and P10.
Last weekend was one of their worst weekends of 2025 in terms of performance, second only to the Bahrain GP.
Max Verstappen had no answer for McLaren once they were in clean air, whilst Tsunoda (who was without the RB21’s flood update) was forced to settle for P10.
Christian Horner believes last weekend’s results reinforce the deficit Red Bull must overcome.
Red Bull “still have a lot of work to do”, says Horner
There have been a lot of mixed emotions for Red Bull in this year’s campaign so far.
At a few venues, such as Suzuka and Jeddah, Verstappen managed to challenge McLaren for victory.
He was even victorious in Japan, although the RB21 was still behind the MCL39 in terms of raw pace.
Last weekend painted a less flattering picture for Red Bull, whose upgrades were insufficient in closing the gap to McLaren.
Speaking after the chequered flag, Christian Horner admitted there is a large gap to overcome:
“We gave it everything today, but well done to McLaren.
“They were in a different league, so P4 and a double points finish is as good as we could get from an often chaotic Miami GP.
“Max put up a staunch defence of his lead and position in the opening stint.
“But the VSC gave others the opportunity to capitalise on Max’s earlier stop and ultimately cost him a podium finish.”
On the opposite side of the garage, Tsunoda claimed one point on Sunday – having surged from 19th to 6th in the Sprint Race to bring home three points.
Tsunoda’s weekend in Miami was relatively understated otherwise, though that was partially because he didn’t have Red Bull’s new floor.
Still, Christian Horner was generally upbeat about his efforts:
“P10 for Yuki who did well to hold onto his point in the end.
“The race showed that we still have a lot of work to do on the car, to find that ultimate pace.
“We’ll take our learnings back to Milton Keynes and come back with everything we have four our 400th race in Imola in a couple of weeks time.”
A season-defining sequence of rounds
The upcoming triple-header in Imola, Monaco and Spain will be essential in this year’s Championship.
Verstappen will try to stay within touching distance of McLaren in rounds 7 and 8, with more updates to the RB21 set to have an impact.
Of greater importance, however, could be the FIA’s technical directive that comes into play in Spain.
Christian Horner has expressed confidence that the new flexi-wing restrictions could impact the MCL39 and it’s overall performance.
If this is true, the dynamics of the Championship could change entirely at the Barcelona circuit.
It should be emphasised that Red Bull, nor any other team, can be certain about the impact of the Spain technical directive.
What does seem clear, however, is that the Milton Keynes outfit are committed to this year’s development race.
Unlikely to produce the best engine for 2026, Red Bull know how essential this year’s title outcome is.
Not only for the sake of defending Verstappen’s Championship, but also to secure his position for the medium-term.
