Red Bull F1: Christian Horner makes candid statement following 2024 failure

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Horner makes candid Red Bull statement following 2024 failure

Red Bull finished third in the constructors' in 2024

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 14 December 2024 17:12 Updated: 18:33

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Christian Horner has made a candid statement regarding Red Bull's failure in the constructors' championship this season.

Whilst Max Verstappen claimed the drivers’ title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the team missed out on the constructors’ trophy for the first time since 2021, with rivals McLaren claiming their first crown since 1998.

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Shockingly, Red Bull also failed to finish second in the championship, with Ferrari condemning them to third in the standings after a strong finish to the campaign.

As a result, the 2024 season marks Red Bull's lowest finishing position since 2019, when they also finished third.

It has been season of mixed fortunes for Red Bull

Max Verstappen was crowned the 2024 drivers' champion

Horner makes Red Bull statement

Red Bull's decline in pace and the underperformance of Sergio Perez have both contributed towards this constructors' drop.

However, team boss Christian Horner has chosen to look on the bright side, offering a frank assessment of the team's failure this year by highlighting one big positive that results from it.

Speaking to the media at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he stated that their lower finish in the standings would provide Red Bull with crucial wind tunnel time to test the car in 2025.

“It's a tough one because we have the biggest regulation change in probably 50 or 60 years in the history of the sport,” Horner said, previewing the 2026 regulation changes.

Christian Horner looks on the bright side of third place constructors' finish

“So with that in mind, we hate finishing third in the championship, but the additional wind tunnel time that comes with that is, if you like, the only upside in a year where there is such a dramatic regulatory change.”

F1 introduced a sliding wind tunnel scale for aerodynamic testing back in 2021 and it essentially means that Red Bull will have 10 per cent more wind tunnel time than McLaren from January through until June, and five per cent more than Ferrari.

With teams likely to focus on their 2026 car development from an early stage, as Horner alluded to, this extra time could be crucial.