Giedo van der Garde shakes head at ‘childish’ Christian Horner after what he said about Lando Norris

Follow us on Google Discover

Christian Horner won’t be quite sure what to make of the 2024 Formula 1 season. His superstar driver, Max Verstappen, is on course for a fourth straight drivers’ title ahead of Lando Norris, but his team’s defence of the constructors’ championship has unravelled.

After the Spanish Grand Prix in June – Verstappen’s most recent victory before his ongoing 10-race drought – Red Bull were six points clear of Ferrari and nearly 100 ahead of McLaren. Now they look set to finish third.

After a monumental swing, the Milton Keynes have fallen 54 points behind McLaren with four rounds to go. It increasingly looks like a two-horse race, with Ferrari 29 off top after leapfrogging Red Bull.

Much of this is down to the chronic underperformance of Sergio Perez, a defining feature of the season. Horner has considered a mid-season driver change and is still refusing to confirm whether the Mexican will make it to Abu Dhabi.

All the while, some of his longest-serving colleagues have left the team. Most notably, legendary designer Adrian Newey handed in his resignation before agreeing to join Aston Martin.

Sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will also leave to head up Audi’s F1 project. And strategy chief Will Courtenay is headed to newest rivals McLaren.

Giedo van der Garde unhappy with Christian Horner for presenting Lando Norris data

There was a sign after the Mexico City Grand Prix that Horner is struggling to adjust to the end of Red Bull’s dominance. Verstappen received two 10-second penalties during the race, both for incidents with Norris.

One of those came at turn four, where Verstappen was adjudged to have forced Norris off the track on the outside. Horner brought telemetry to his post-race media session to argue that this was unjustified.

He pointed out that Norris carried an additional 15 km/h into the corner, which meant he was always going to run wide. But former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde says it was natural to brake later before attempting a pass on the outside.

Speaking on De Race Show, Van der Garde criticised Horner’s behaviour. The relationship between Red Bull and McLaren has become increasingly hostile as the season has progressed.

“Horner of course came with all pieces of paper,” Van der Garde said, shaking his head. “I thought that was childish. I thought that was really a bit childish.

“It’s good to say that you have the data, but to arrive with pieces of paper and say ‘oh look, here is the evidence, because he went 15km/h faster through that bend, he will never be able to make it’. If you go 15 km/h faster, then you might end up on the outside just in front [of Verstappen].”

Damon Hill wishes Christian Horner would say one thing about Max Verstappen’s driving style

Horner won’t appeal Verstappen’s penalties despite his complaints. Perhaps that’s an implicit admission that he thinks them justified.

Some would argue that a team principal is duty-bound to defend their driver after incidents such as this. But Damon Hill disagrees.

Hill urged Horner to publicly criticise Verstappen, whose excessive aggression saw him drop to sixth place. With Perez struggling once again, Red Bull only walked away from the event with those eight points.

Verstappen has picked up three 10-second penalties this year, the first of which came in Austria following a collision with Norris. Mexico was one of his most ill-disciplined races, up there with Saudi Arabia 2021.