Horner admits the car has always been geared towards Max’s sharp driving style, and that Perez struggled during his years with a very complicated car—something Horner has consistently denied since 2022.

This comes after discussing it on the High Performance podcast today, October 18th.

Key points I would like to highlight:

Christian Horner addresses this topic by explaining that, naturally, any engineering team leans toward its fastest driver to maximize results (59:54-1:00:07). In Red Bull’s case, this occurred because Max Verstappen has an exceptional ability to demand a car with high front-end grip—regardless of how the rear behaves—a characteristic that other drivers find difficult to handle (57:08-57:37).

Horner explains that development focuses on providing the lead driver (Verstappen) with the tool he needs, which shapes the vehicle's overall characteristics (57:21-57:37).

He notes that in 2022, the car was initially developed with characteristics more aligned with Alex Albon’s driving style (This is because Alex Albon was a Red Bull development driver for the RB18 car.)—more conventional and predictable, similar to that of Sergio Perez or Daniel Ricciardo. This left Verstappen uncomfortable early on, as the car suffered from excessive understeer (58:54-59:22).

Team executives and people close to Verstappen confronted Horner in Baku in 2023 about why they supposedly built a car specifically designed and suitable for Sergio (59:30)

He acknowledges that, while Sergio Perez has done an excellent job, there is a natural performance gap—a result of the extreme demands Verstappen can manage, which the team strives to meet in order to win championships (1:00:23-1:00:41).