Christian Horner has praised Max Verstappen's attitude during Red Bull's recent struggles, but he is confident the team can make a comeback in the final eight races.
Verstappen saw his lead cut at the top of the drivers' championship to 62 points by McLaren's Lando Norris in Monza, with Charles Leclerc also closing the gap.
The Dutchman has now gone five Grand Prix's without a pole position, his worst streak since the sixth race of the 2021 season (five).
He has also failed to emerge victorious in his last six Grand Prix's, with the last time he stood on the top step being at Barcelona in June.
“What’s really impressed me with Max is how he’s really engaged in this process,” said Horner.
“He’s not panicking, he’s working with the engineers, he’s explaining very clearly where the issues are, he’s putting the time and effort in.
“He was in early this morning, he was on Zoom calls last week, he’ll be on the simulator before the next race, and he’s really working hard at this.
"I think he’s shown great maturity as a world champion, the way he’s working with the engineering group.
“Nobody likes the situation we’re in at the moment, nobody’s happy with it and we’ve got to work really hard to turn it around.
"But the one thing this team has is strength and depth in talent, and we’ll come back.”
Red Bull's struggles have also seen their advantage at the top of the constructors' standings evaporate, and are now only eight points clear of McLaren, with Ferrari 39 points off the pace.
But a return to action next weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix offers the team a chance to bridge the gap to those below them.
Only one driver has achieved more than one victory on the streets of Baku, with that man being Verstappen's team-mate, Sergio Perez, who won in 2021 and 2023.
The Mexican has scored the most points on the circuit (100), with only a Lewis Hamilton victory and fastest lap being enough to overtake the Red Bull driver (75).
But Perez has now gone 10 consecutive Grands Prix without finishing in the top five of the standings, the same number of times as in his previous 41 races in Formula 1.
However, Horner is optimistic that solutions can be put in place prior to the upcoming double header of Azerbaijan and Singapore.
“The most important thing is understanding the issue, and I think there are certain fixes that potentially can be introduced, perhaps not the resolve the whole issue but address some of it,” Horner said.
“I think we have a two-week period before Baku and Singapore and then we have another mini-break where we can work in-between Singapore and Austin, so this time now is crucial.”
Ricciardo to leave RB with Lawson named as replacement
Daniel Ricciardo will leave RB with Liam Lawson replacing him for the remainder of the Formula One season.
Speculation surrounding Ricciardo's future has been confirmed as the Australian's second F1 stint was brought to an end after he lost his seat at RB.
Ricciardo is 14th in the drivers' championship standings, while he recorded the fastest lap during last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix - the 258th and final race of his F1 career.
The 35-year-old has chalked up eight wins and 32 podiums along the way, notably finishing third in the drivers' championship in 2014 and 2016.
Lawson, who deputised for the injured Ricciardo in five races last season, will step up from his reserve role to partner Yuki Tsunoda for the final six races of the 2024 campaign, starting at next month's United States Grand Prix in Austin.
The 22-year-old recorded an impressive ninth-place finish in Singapore during his short stint, and RB boss Laurent Mekies feels it will be "a natural transition" for him.
"Everyone would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us," Mekies said.
"He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit.
"Daniel has been a true gentleman both on and off the track, and never without that smile. He will be missed, but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family.
"I'd also like to take this opportunity to welcome Liam. He already knows the team well. He drove for us last season, and coped well under difficult circumstances, so it'll be a natural transition.
"It's great to see young talent from within the Red Bull family make the next step. We're looking forward to getting our heads down and focusing on the rest of the season together."
Norris: Overhauling Verstappen for F1 championship 'definitely possible'
Lando Norris believes overhauling Max Verstappen to win the Formula One driver's championship is "definitely possible", though he knows McLaren have no room for error.
Norris produced a magnificent performance at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, leading from the front and finishing some 20 seconds clear of Verstappen.
That victory – his third of the year – lifted him to within 52 points of Verstappen at the top of the drivers' standings, while McLaren lead Red Bull by 41 points in the battle for the constructors' crown.
Norris has now won from pole in two of the last four races (Singapore and the Netherlands), becoming the 49th driver to achieve that feat on at least two occasions in F1.
In the last 30 grands prix in which Norris has scored points, he has averaged 15.3 points (460 in total), having only averaged 6.8 across his previous 66 (452 in total).
With Verstappen now winless in eight races, Norris does not see ending his three-year reign as an impossible objective, if McLaren can maintain their pace.
"This is what I've got to do, this is what I need, this is what we need to do as a team," Norris told Sky Sports F1.
"We've executed things perfectly as a team, especially to get Oscar [Piastri] into P3, but we need to do it at every race until the end of the year if I want to have a chance to get Max.
"We're working hard and if I keep doing what I've done this weekend, then it's definitely possible."
Verstappen won 19 of 22 races in the 2023 season – the most dominant campaign ever witnessed in F1 – but Norris hopes he can take this year's title battle to the final race, set for Abu Dhabi on December 8.
"I hope so. I still have a lot of points I've got to catch up and it's not going to be easy to do it," Norris added.
"It's against Red Bull and it's against Max, the most dominant pairing you've ever seen in Formula One, from last year.
"That's not necessarily changed in terms of… It's the same team and it's the same driver. So, I have some of the toughest competition that Formula One has ever seen.
"I'm working my heart out, I'm working my butt off, to try and make sure that happens. He's trying to make sure it doesn't happen. So we'll have to wait and find out."
Red Bull would be 'foolish' not to target Russell, says Horner
Red Bull would be "foolish" not to consider an approach for George Russell when his Mercedes contract expires next year, says team principal Christian Horner.
While three-time world champion Max Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until 2028, the poor form of team-mate Sergio Perez has cast doubt on their lineup.
Perez started 2024 with four podium finishes in his first five races, but he has since endured a run of 13 outings without a top-three finish to slip to eighth in the drivers' championship.
Russell is set to become Mercedes' lead driver for 2025 when Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari, but with the Silver Arrows' team principal Toto Wolff repeatedly talking up the possibility of moving for Verstappen, his long-term future is in doubt.
With Russell's contract expiring after next season, Horner says Red Bull could swoop for him to fill a "gap" between their current drivers and those coming through their academy.
"We've got a gap now but we just want to take time to consider what those options look like for the future," Horner told Sky Sports F1.
"And we're not afraid to go out of the pool. You know, George Russell is out of contract at the end of next year. It would be foolish not to take that into consideration.
"There are other talented drivers that could well be out of contract as well."
Russell claimed his second F1 race win in Austria earlier this year and currently sits seventh in the drivers' standings, 11 points ahead of Perez.
Horner's comments on Russell were put to Mercedes boss Wolff, who accused his counterpart of "stirring".
"He is always stirring s*** up on his part," Wolff said. "It's part of the game.
"George is a Mercedes driver, has been forever and hopefully will be forever. He has a long contract with the team."
The Silver Arrows endured a frustrating outing at last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, Hamilton finishing fourth and Russell sixth after early difficulties with the team's split strategy.
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