Max Verstappen’s time at Red Bull in the 2025 season has remained extremely troublesome. The Austrian constructor is facing a lot of issues in terms of performing well. This has caused Verstappen to lose a lot of running against the rivals, especially McLaren.

Now, as the Dutchman trails behind Oscar Piastri in the championship by 43 points, Team Principal Christian Horner refuses to give up on the title ambitions just yet.

Max Verstappen has become the center of incessant rumors of leaving Red Bull and looking to join rival teams due to the performance struggles. While the Dutchman has shown his loyalty to the team on multiple occasions, he might start looking elsewhere if the situation worsens.

Milton Keynes has acknowledged its shortcomings and is actively working to achieve a turnaround from the slump. Moreover, the reigning champion has given it his all to keep scoring impressive results despite the trying times.

Red Bull’s Team Principal Christian Horner, had already accepted the inevitability of Max Verstappen leaving the team soon.

Still, the 51-year-old believes that Verstappen couldn’t quit as easily as people think due to the contracts in place.

Now, Horner asserted that Milton Keynes isn’t going to give up so easily, as they hope to achieve a performance recovery.

Christian Horner didn’t hesitate to acknowledge the massive point disparity between the championship leader, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. Woking’s superior pace has enabled both drivers to maximize on points with little to no error.

However, Red Bull’s massive disadvantage lies in the No. 2 driver, as no one is able to match up to Verstappen in the same challenger. Regardless, Horner, alongside the team, refuses to back down and give up on performing well down the season.

I mean, the points gap — there’s still a significant points gap between us and them [McLaren]. But we don’t give up on anything.

Christian Horner said, as reported by GPblog

Christian Horner puts hopes on second half of 2025 for Max Verstappen to recover

Red Bull’s performance since the start of the 2025 season has remained mediocre despite Max Verstappen winning two races. The Dutchman has proved the difference in racing skills, no matter the inferior pace to the rivals.

Still, the team must ensure better conditions for Verstappen to make winning races a habit. As such, Christian Horner explains that the 2025 season has barely begun, with 14 more races to go until completion.

Christian Horner asserted that the season wasn’t even halfway over as people started to write off Verstappen’s championship chances. The Briton reckoned that if the team could continue chipping away and finding performance in the car, they could resurrect their pace.

Hence, the 51-year-old reiterated that nobody has given up on winning, as anything can happen in the remainder of the season.

We’re not even at the halfway point yet. There’s a lot of racing, a lot of sprint races coming up. If we can keep chipping away and getting performance on the car, then nobody gives up on anything.

Christian Horner noted

Red Bull could face a dire situation in terms of retaining Max Verstappen in the squad if the performance doesn’t improve at all. The team must achieve a significant improvement in pace at any cost if they want to contend for either of the championships down the season.

As things currently are, winning the constructors’ title might already have become less of a reality due to the second driver issue in the team.