Christian Horner reveals Red Bull awake past 2am despite outside “noise”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has praised the cohesiveness of his team after Max Verstappen secured an unlikely victory at the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Verstappen claimed a dominant win ahead of the McLarens to land his and Red Bull’s second victory of the 2025 season, while Yuki Tsunoda recovered from the pit lane to score the final point on offer in 10th.

Red Bull team principal Horner also revealed the team’s mechanics were working into the early hours of Sunday morning rebuilding Tsunoda’s car, which was destroyed in a terrifying qualifying crash.

“As a team we’re very strong, as a unit we’re very strong. There’s always a lot of noise from the outside but never on the inside,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.

“The whole engineering team back at Milton Keynes have done a great job. We’ve brought a few new bits this weekend. That’s why Enrico [Balbao, head of aero] went to get the trophy today for the hard work that’s going on behind the scenes.

“The strategy was good, the pit stops were good. The guys were up until gone 2am last night preparing Yuki’s car, so just as a unit we’ve executed a really good race this weekend.

“Particularly for our 400th [race], it was great to celebrate that by getting this big win today.”

Horner hails Verstappen’s first-corner brilliance

Verstappen’s impressive win at Imola was founded on a superb around-the-outside overtake on polesitter Oscar Piastri at the first corner.

“That first corner was it or bin it with the commitment he had," Horner said.

"Oscar was fair and gave him space but Max was coming from a way back and George [Russell] is up the inside, but he just commits to the corner.

“He was given enough space by Oscar and that was the last they saw of him. Incredibly decisive. He's just so good in those situations.

"Oscar is trying to defend a championship lead and Max saw a gap and went for it. That's the instinctive racer Max keeps demonstrating week in and week out."

Horner confirmed Red Bull will focus on the drivers’ championship, with Verstappen just 22 points behind Piastri.

"I've always said this championship is a marathon,” Horner added.

"We are on race seven and we have won two of them now. It's all about where you are at the end of it. You've got to make sure you stay in touch through this phase.

"We are finding form. It's a completely different challenge next weekend and then a regulation change the weekend after.

"Our full focus is on the drivers' championship. We have a very clear No 1. in our team and that's where the clear focus is.”

Asked if the focus for Red Bull is the drivers’ championship, Horner replied: “For sure.

“Our full focus is on the driver’s championship. Both cars are scoring and the more Yuki works his way up the order the bigger role he can play. You saw him play a small role today working hard to keep Oscar behind him for a lap or so.

“For us, all the focus is on that drivers’ championship. We’ve got a very clear number one in our team and that’s obviously where the main focus is.”