Christian Horner voices ‘very, very’ big concern as Red Bull react to recent win drought

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Red Bull are enduring the Formula 1 team’s worst run of results since 2020, so plan to react at the 2024 United States Grand Prix, but Christian Horner is not fully convinced.

It is now eight Grand Prix since any Red Bull driver has ventured to the top step of a podium. The team from Milton Keynes have further only reached the rostrum three times since Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix back in June, to see their control of Formula 1 wane.

Not since Red Bull went 11 Grand Prix without a win in the 2020 season have they waited as long to taste champaign without smiling gritted teeth. It has further seen McLaren overtake Red Bull to top the 2024 constructors’ championship by 41 points with six rounds remaining.

Christian Horner harbours doubts as Red Bull plan upgrades for the United States GP

Red Bull team boss Horner is adamant that his outfit remain in a fight with McLaren over the constructors’ title. The team from Milton Keynes are also battling their rivals from Woking to take the drivers’ championship with Verstappen leading Lando Norris by 52 points presently.

Norris has only eaten 17 points into Verstappen’s lead since the Dutchman won the Spanish GP. But Red Bull plan to react to their win drought at the United States Grand Prix with a set of upgrades for the triple-header with the Mexico City Grand Prix and Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Formula 1 is currently relishing in an unofficial autumn break with a four-week gap from the Singapore Grand Prix to the United States GP. Red Bull want to fully utilise the break to take upgrades to COTA they hope will help put their season back on track and catch McLaren up.

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But Horner is not totally convinced that what Red Bull learned of their problems through the Italian Grand Prix, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the Singapore GP will necessarily prove an advantage given their vastly different circuits compared to those coming up on the calendar.

“It probably hasn’t been finalised yet,” Horner noted on their upgrades, via motorsport.com. “So, there’s a lot of information that is coming out of these events that will influence what’s going on the car in Austin. We’ve got a lot of useful information out of the last two races.

“But they’re very, very different venues to the sweeping curves of Austin and Mexico. Brazil is a different one, again, so it will be interesting. Everybody is massively motivated in the team and we’re still fighting for both championships.”

McLaren and Red Bull will pay close attention to any upgrades at COTA

Monza was far from a happy hunting ground for Verstappen this year as the Red Bull driver bemoaned having an ‘undrivable’ car and felt the team turned his RB20 into a ‘monster’ at the Italian GP. The Dutchman qualified in P7 and finished P6 as Norris took pole but got P3.

Baku proved to be another frustrating race for the three-time defending champion, as well. Verstappen was never on the pace of the frontrunners at the Azerbaijan GP to qualify in P6 yet finished in P5 behind Norris, who came through from P15 on the grid to achieve fourth.

Red Bull were even more competitive in Baku with Sergio Perez than with Verstappen as the Mexican fought for the podium before crashing with Carlos Sainz on the penultimate lap. An improved display was on the cards for Verstappen at the Singapore GP last time out, though.

While Norris dominated the Singapore GP to set the second-biggest winning margin of 2024 at 20.945 seconds, Verstappen came home in second place after qualifying in P2 with Norris on pole position. He also rarely had to monitor the mirrors to manage a threat from behind.

Yet Red Bull and Verstappen are pinning their constructors’ and drivers’ championship hopes on their upgrades due for the United States GP. If the team from Milton Keynes underdeliver with the fresh parts at COTA, McLaren will further believe they can win both championships.