Christian Horner has revealed that Max Verstappen is more involved on the engineering side of Red Bull’s Formula 1🐎 car than ever before, as the t𒉰eam comes to terms with its dramatic slump in performance.

Although Red Bull had been struggling for performance since a quarter of the way into the 2024 season, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Verstappen was still able to consis♉tently achieve top results at the back end of last year to win his fourth conse🐈cutive title.

However, the🤪 pecking order has shifted further at the start of the 2025 season, with McLaren stealing a march on its rivals and Red Bull losing more ♓ground to other top teams.

Verstappen was never in the fight for a podium finish in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix and eventually finished more than 16 seconds off the lead in fourth after making a late move on 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Charles Leclerc, who was nursing a damag🌱ed🌳 front wing endplate on his Ferrari.

Following the Chinese GP, Verstappen sits eight points adrift of McLaren’s 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lando Norris in the drivers’ standings, while Red Bull already faces a 25-point deficit to the British team in tꦜhe constructorওs’ championship.

However, Horner says Red Bull is not willing to concede defeat in the tight fight just yet, explaining how Verstappen is working closely with the engineers to dragꦇ the team out of its current slump.

“It’𒉰s Raceꦕ 2, you can’t be that defeatist. We are eight points behind in the constructors’ after two races,” said Horner.

“There is everything to play for. If nothing else, last year teaches you that you can start as strong as you like, but it’s abo✱ut how you finish.

ไ“We have great strength in depth in our team. Everyone in the company knoꦺws we have got a bit of pace to find.

“We have tools and the people to do that. It’s aboꦡut unpicking it. We have the data from ♚today.

"Max is working harder than ever. He’s more integrated𒉰 with the engineering group that I’ve ever 🎃seen.

“He seem𒁃s to be enjoying that aꦰspect. He isn’t getting super stressed.

“Like any driver, he is impatient for performance but h💃e is working with the engineers saying ‘what about this?’”

Verstappen was unable to put up any fight to the Ferraris of Leclerc and168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Lewis Hamilton𝄹 on medium tyres, leaving him sixth in the order in the first stint.

Hamilton dropped behind Verstappen on a two-stop strategy while⛄ the 27-year-old also found a way past Leclerc with just four laps to run after doing a better job keeping his ha🌳rd tyres alive.

While Horner admitted that the RB21 lacked pace on mꦏedium tyres, he was more impressed with how the car performed when Verstappen switched to the hard compound for a long second stin𒀰t.

“That first stint is where we gave away all of the time. Max came 🧸into the pit stop 18s behind Oscar, and at the chequered flag he was 16s behind,” ⛎he explained.

“On the hard tyre, we were pretty competitive.⛎ So we need to understand.

“Maybe we overcompensated based on the dꦗe🎐gradation that we saw yesterday.

“For sure, we need to find a little bit more pace. Then, life is easi💎er.

“[Max] drove another great race. He passed the Ferraris, he passed Charles. A fourth-place finish is important points w🐼e know we’ve got plenty more to do.”