Red Bull driver Max Verstappen secured a fourth straight World Championship in F1 2024, winning nine races across the season to beat McLaren’s Lando Norris to the title by a margin of 63 points.
It saw Verstappen become only the second driver in F1 history after Red Bull icon Sebastian Vettel to win his first four titles in consecutive years.
However, Red Bull could only manage a distant third in the Constructors’ Championship, 63 points adrift of Ferrari and a further 14 behind McLaren, who secured their first teams’ title since 1998.
With Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez failing to score a podium after the fifth race in China, the Mexican has been replaced for F1 2025 with Liam Lawson stepping from the Racing Bulls junior team.
F1 has operated with a sliding scale for aerodynamic testing since 2021, with the order based on the position of each team in the Constructors’ standings.
It means the team in last place in the Constructors’ standings enjoy considerably more aerodynamic research time than the title winners, with the aim to create closer competition between the sport’s 10 teams.
The sliding scale is reset twice during each calendar year – on January 1 to match the final order of the previous year’s Constructors’ standings and again on July 1 to reflect the state of play at the halfway stage of each season.
With the scale reset at the start of 2025, it means Red Bull’s RB21 will enjoy more wind tunnel and CFD time than the McLaren MCL39 and Ferrari’s Project 677.
Teams face an additional challenge when it comes to development of their F1 2025 cars, with this season marking the final year of the existing rules before major technical regulation changes are implemented for F1 2026.
Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com, Horner says the challenge of remaining competitive in F1 2025 while looking ahead to F1 2026 will create a “constant balancing act” for the teams.
And he sees Red Bull’s aerodynamic research boost as the “only” advantage in the team’s hopes of challenging McLaren and Ferrari this year.
He said: “It’s a tough one because we have the biggest regulation change in probably 50 or 60 years in the history of the sport [in F1 2026].
“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.
“It’s a constant balancing act. And if you are in a tight battle, inevitably your development gets dragged into the season longer, which is particularly hard..
“We saw that in ‘21 into ‘22, where you have a big conceptual change of regs.
“Obviously, the earlier start, the bigger advantage you have.
“But if there is a tight championship and it does go down to the wire, then that’s going to be a tough balancing act for the different teams to choose how they apportion their resource.”
The F1 2025 season also marks the last year of Red Bull’s alliance with Honda, which has played an instrumental role in the team’s success with Verstappen since 2019.
Honda will join forces with Aston Martin for F1 2026 as Red Bull enter a technical partnership with US giants Ford.
Ahead of the team’s last season with Honda, Horner issued a statement to recognise the team’s achievements with the Japanese manufacturer.
He said: “2025 marks the final year of the Honda-Red Bull partnership in Formula 1.
“Seven years ago, when we announced our switch from [our] former supplier to Honda power units, some people cast doubts on our decision.
“However, over the years we’ve been proven with many historic records – such as the 21 wins out of 22 races in 2023 – that it was absolutely the right call.
“For the final season, both Red Bull and HRC will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to win.
“Until then, we continue working hard together to win every race and secure more championships.”
In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com (bottom), Horner described Red Bull Powertrains’ partnership with Ford as “by far the biggest challenge” in the team’s history.
He said: “2026 will be a complete reset, and building your own power unit, four years ago, we had a clean sheet of paper.
“In four years, we built a factory and developed an engine, but we’re taking on 75 years of experience with Ferrari and 30 years with HPP (Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains), so we have no illusions.
“The mountain that we have to climb is immense, but, with the right spirit, and the right quality people that we have within the business, it will be achievable.
“It’s by far the biggest challenge that we’ve taken on in Formula 1.”
