Christian Horner says Red Bull up for the fight of defending world championships

Christian Horner says Red Bull are up for the fight of defending their world championships from the threat of Lando Norris and McLaren.

Norris has cut Max Verstappen’s lead by 16 points over the last two races to ignite his title challenge, with the advantage now 62 points with eight races remaining ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The three-time world champion is without a win in six races and claimed after his sixth-placed finish at the last race in Monza that, despite his sizeable lead, his title hopes were no longer “realistic”.

Red Bull have been grappling issues with their car over recent months but showed signs that they have found a solution around the streets of Baku as Verstappen topped the charts in first practice and Sergio Perez performed well in both sessions.

Horner is confident that Red Bull now understand their struggles and is geared up to defend both drivers’ and constructors’ crowns.

“There is everything to play for,” Horner said.

“Max in the drivers’ championship has a solid lead but you can’t take anything for granted with eight races to go and sprint races as well. We are super conscious of that.

“It only takes a couple of bad weekends – and big weekends from Lando – and suddenly it is an awful lot closer.

“The constructors’ is a three-horse race. We are eight points ahead of McLaren but you can’t discount Ferrari either. They have quietly snuck their way back into this. It is a flat-out fight over the last eight races.

“You never enjoy it when your cars aren’t performing. But are we up for it? Absolutely. I have never seen a team more motivated and working as hard as it currently is.”

Verstappen has been fighting something of a lone battle in the constructors’ championship as team-mate Perez has not finished higher than sixth in his last 10 races.

Monza was a low point for the team, finishing sixth and eighth and well off the pace of Ferrari and McLaren – with Charles Leclerc’s home win for the Scuderia pulling them to within 39 points of Red Bull.

“The mood is pretty positive. Monza was a tough weekend for us,” Horner added.

“But out of every negative comes a positive. I think it has given a clear direction. The whole team are determined and pushing as hard as possible.

“Hopefully we can turn things around. Things can change pretty quickly. We have won seven grands prix this year – Max has won seven and the most any other driver has is two wins.”

Adrian Newey’s departure from Red Bull, after almost two decades with the team, was announced in May and his move to Aston Martin from March 1 was confirmed with great fanfare at the team’s Silverstone base on Tuesday.

Newey, considered the greatest Formula One technical mastermind of his generation, has signed a long-term deal but Horner believes Aston Martin and owner Lawrence Stroll may have gone too early with the grand unveiling.

“It was a large announcement by Aston and Adrian has always tended to do his own thing,” Horner said.

“They chose to celebrate it perhaps prematurely before he has finished his contract with Red Bull Racing. It was a big moment for their team.”