Horner and Marko clash again over Red Bull F1 title chances

Christian Horner insists it is “all to play for” in the fight for the F1 constructors’ championship after Red Bull returned to winning ways in Brazil. 

Following a near five-month win drought from June’s Spanish GP, Max Verstappen delivered one of the finest performances of his career to win from 17th on the grid at Interlagos, crushing Lando Norris’ title hopes in the process.

Verstappen now finds himself 62 points clear of Norris, and will be F1 champion for the fourth time if he leaves Las Vegas 60 ahead of the McLaren driver – with the permutations explained here.

In the constructors’, however, Red Bull has slipped to third, mainly due to the continued poor form of Sergio Perez, who has scored just 48 points in 15 races since Miami in May. 

McLaren tops the standings with 593 points, with Ferrari in second with 557 and Red Bull third with 544, with 147 points up for grabs across the final three races.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said after Verstappen’s victory that it was “impossible” for the team to win its third consecutive constructors’ title.

With Red Bull less than 50 points behind McLaren, though, Horner feels the team is in striking distance of holding on to its crown.

It is not the first time this season the duo have been at odds with one another on a variety of topics.

“It’s tricky and we had a very strong start, but then other teams have hit very strong form over the summer months,” Horner told Talksport. 

“It is only recently that we’ve started to get real performance back on the car, winning the sprint race in Austin and now the grand prix at Interlagos. 

“But it is now all to play for, there are still three grands prix and one sprint race to go, so there are plenty of points available.

“It was a great result for us [in Brazil] that we scored big, we hadn’t won since June, but our eighth victory of the year was a dominant one as it transpired in the end. 

“It was a great recovery by the team after a difficult period during the last couple of months.”