Christian Horner gloats over Lando Norris problem as McLaren have 'made their bed'

Christian Horner believes could open the door for to win a fifth title by letting both their drivers challenge. and both dream of title glory and have been given free rein by their team to fight in the early weeks of the new season.

In contrast, there is a clear hierarchy at with first and then replacement told clearly that Verstappen is top dog. And that, believes, is the edge they have over McLaren right now despite the latter clearly having the quicker cars.

"The problem they have is they have two drivers that are fighting for the championship," he said. "The difficulty they have is that they've made a bed where they're going to let them race. So that's the compromise that inevitably comes with it."

Norris spent the whole of running close to Verstappen's rear wing but without ever threatening to overtake. Piastri was also close behind in third and, in the latter stages, implored his team to make Norris move aside so he could target the Red Bull.

That request was ignored and they had to settle for second and third while Verstappen took his first win of 2025. Speaking afterwards, for failing to get the better of him despite having superior cars.

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"I'm very happy with what I'm doing right now, but I could think what would happen when I would be in that other car," he said. Asked if he meant a scenario in which he was driving a McLaren, he replied: "Yes - you wouldn't see me anymore!"

At McLaren, though, it is clear that they do not plan to change their approach any time soon. Norris still tops the drivers' standings, despite Verstappen narrowing the gap to just one point, but extended their lead in the teams' title race which now stands at 36 points over second-placed .

Red Bull are third with all 61 of their points having been scored by Verstappen - Lawson failed to score before he was dropped and replacement Tsunoda finished 12th on debut in Japan. McLaren boss said he wants to see off the challenge of other teams before he considers the battle between his drivers.

He said: "When you have these indications from the track then maybe it reinforces the message that we do have to keep working well together because, before it becomes an internal business only, I think there is quite a lot of work to do to clear some of the competitors.

"We don't need these kinds of reminders because we talk about this every Thursday and Sunday of every race weekend. We are here first of all to beat the other teams and put McLaren in a very strong position.

"When McLaren is in a strong position that is the best position for the two drivers to pursue their aspirations. That is very clear to the team and very clear to the drivers."