Verstappen let Norris pass simply, Horner: 'Not because of last week'

7 July at 19:26

Corwin Kunst

Christian Horner does not think that last weekend played any part in Max Verstappen not giving his rival Lando Norris a leg up in the opening stages of the British Grand Prix. Verstappen barely defended and so the McLaren driver simply passed him, as did Oscar Piastri later.

Verstappen lacked speed in the first stint on mediums. Duelling as hard with Norris as he did in Austria - where the two touched as they battled for the lead - we did not see at Silverstone.

Whether Horner thinks last week had any influence on that? "I think the overspeed of the McLaren was so big that he could have gone either side.
So I think at that point, I haven't spoken to Max, but I can only assume he was focused on being sort of the fastest racing line that he could, not to lose the time to the car behind."

On the constructors' title

In the end, Verstappen still finished ahead of Norris, thanks to opting for hard tyres in the closing stages. This made the Dutchman the only Red Bull Racing driver to score points, as Sergio Perez finished well outside the top-ten.

Although the Austrian team were ahead of nearest rival Ferrari in the standings, number three McLaren did score more points than Red Bull. Horner knows his team needs two drivers to score points to keep the lead. "It's not sustainable if you've got rivals. He knows it's unsustainable to not be scoring points. We have to be scoring points in that car. And he knows that. He knows his role and his target. And so nobody is more eager than Checo to get back to find his form again," Horner concluded.