Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner expressed his satisfaction with Max Verstappen’s composed and precise performance in at the 2025 F1 Canadian GP, as the Dutch driver claimed second place in a well-controlled race behind Mercedes’ George Russell. Despite starting from the front row, Verstappen was unable to challenge for victory but executed a near-flawless drive that kept Red Bull firmly in the fight for championship points.
Verstappen converts P2 into solid podium
After starting alongside Russell on the front row, Verstappen made a clean getaway and maintained his position through the first lap. Although much anticipation surrounded the potential for first-lap fireworks—especially after Russell’s joking remarks about having more Super Licence points to spare—both drivers kept it clean. Verstappen remained consistently within range of Russell while simultaneously defending from Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli, who had jumped into third place at the start. Horner praised his lead driver’s execution under pressure.
“I think that it’s inevitable that there was going to be some potential gamesmanship,” Horner said, “It’s something that we raised after the drivers’ briefing, you know, with the Race Director. Just so that they were mindful of it as well. Because it’s clear that, you know, that kind of stuff goes on.”
Horner continued, “Max, I thought he’s been squeaky clean all weekend. He drove a very good race today.”
Strategy play falls short, but execution impresses
Verstappen ran an aggressive strategy, with Red Bull opting to pit early in an attempt to undercut Russell. However, the effort failed to yield the race lead. Even so, Horner remained upbeat about the team’s overall race performance and strategy execution at the 2025 F1 Canadian GP.
“I think it was a solid race for us. I mean, the first thing, we pushed pretty hard early on, on the medium tyre. The tyre then started to open up,” he explained, “So, I would say the second stint for us was probably our least competitive stint. We started to open up and grain the front left. But then the last stint was very strong and was actually better than Kimi’s behind, and was pretty much a match to George ahead on five or six-lap younger tyres.”
Verstappen’s efforts delivered his fifth podium of the season and valuable points, allowing him to close the gap to both McLaren drivers in the championship standings.
Safety car protest “not personal to George”
However, Verstappen’s podium finish was not without contention as Red Bull lodged a post-race protest concerning Russell’s conduct behind the late-race Safety Car, marking the second time in five races the team has questioned the Mercedes driver’s actions. Horner was quick to clarify that the protest originated from the team, not Verstappen.
“It’s certainly not personal to George… The way the regulations are, the regulations are pretty binary, pretty clear,” he said, “So, we’ve put in a protest. Regulations are very clear about the Safety Car. If you remember Checo [Sergio Perez] back in Singapore in ’22 got two penalties for it.”
Despite Red Bull’s concerns, the Stewards dismissed the protest, finding no breach of the rules. Still, Verstappen’s second-place finish helped him claw back points in the championship battle, particularly as Lando Norris failed to finish following a collision with team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen closes the gap in title race
With Piastri finishing fourth and Norris retiring from the race, Verstappen capitalised to reduce the deficit in the title race. He now sits on 155 points, 21 behind Norris and 43 behind leader Piastri.
