Christian Horner gives ‘upfront’ advice amid McLaren ‘confusion’ over two No.1 drivers

Max Verstappen pictured with Christian Horner on the grid.

Backing Lando Norris only for Oscar Piastri to win in Baku, Christian Horner says Red Bull won’t succumb to the same “confusion” as McLaren, after all, one of their drivers is Max Verstappen.

After Italy’s ‘papaya rules’ and Azerbaijan’s team orders, McLaren may have left Baku with the lead in the Constructors’ Championship, but they also left it with a “headache” as they try to resolve their driver situation.

Christian Horner: Oscar Piastri is creating headaches at McLaren

Piastri outscored Norris by 43 points to 29 in the last two races, which meant that while Norris, who got the better of championship leader Max Verstappen in both races and outscored the Red Bull driver by 11 points, it was his team-mate who made the biggest dent in the standings.

Seven races before the end of the season, Norris trails Verstappen by 59 points but Piastri is now only 32 behind his team-mate.

And while it could be argued Norris is still McLaren’s best bet according to the table, Piastri taking 31 points out of Verstappen’s lead in the seven race since the Dutchman’s last win back in Spain is telling.

So telling, Horner reckons, he’s given his McLaren team something to think about it.

“I think the other one [Piastri] is causing them headaches because he’s winning races and he’s doing a very good job,” he told the media in Baku.

“It was like when Daniel Ricciardo came to us, he was clearly supposed to be the number two to Sebastian Vettel, and he won three races that year to Sebastian’s none. Sometimes it causes you a headache like that.

“For sure they took Oscar with the expectation, as Mercedes probably did with George [Russell], and Ferrari probably did with Carlos [Sainz], that you have a prime asset and a support asset.

“Of course when the second driver starts outperforming the first driver that’s when you tend to have a headache.”

Conclusions and ratings from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Azerbaijan GP conclusions: Piastri’s title warning, Perez driver coach, keep Bearman in

Azerbaijan GP driver ratings: Perfect Piastri and a big drop for Perez

Red Bull won’t fall into same ‘confusion’ trap as McLaren

McLaren, though, have only made that headache worse for themselves by going public with their plans to back Norris, and only Norris, for the title as they stated prior to Baku.

But with the Briton down in 17th place after qualifying and Piastri up in P2, it was the Aussie who scored big.

“Usually those things are dealt with behind closed doors,” Horner said. “I’m not actually sure what those rules are. There’s still seems confusion.”

But it’s confusion Red Bull have eradicated as they have a clear number one in Verstappen with Sergio Perez his support act.

“Every team is different. Our rules of engagement are very clear,” said the Red Bull team boss.

“We’ve got a driver that’s fighting for a World Championship. It’s a team sport so it’s very clear Checo’s job is to support Max to the end of the year.”

“Different teams operate in different ways. When you’ve got an asset like Max Verstappen, you don’t make him a number two driver,” he added.

“Lando Norris, they are paying five times what they pay Oscar, so I would assume that he would be their number one driver, or the biggest asset.

“So therefore the confusion comes when you are not upfront from the beginning about what your plans are.”

He says being upfront is important as a team fighting for both titles cannot have two number one drivers.

“It becomes a very difficult problem to manage, because you split the team and the rules of engagement become very difficult. Everybody knows probably who the number one and two is, but if you’re not upfront with the drivers, you end up with confusion.

“At the beginning of the season obviously it’s all open but certainly when you get to around the halfway point you’ve got to pick a horse, especially if you’re in a championship battle.”

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