McLaren won the constructors’ championship in 2024 to end a 26-year drought for the Woking operation.
Lando Norris challenged for the drivers’ title but was ultimately unable to catch Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman sealed his fourth championship, a success built largely on his performances in the early rounds of the season.
Verstappen’s car advantage disappeared as the season progressed and, by year-end, his Red Bull was arguably only the third-fastest car behind McLaren and Ferrari.
McLaren emerged as the fastest car over the Miami Grand Prix but was unable to fully capitalise on that.
Operation and strategic issues cost both drivers, and the team’s blushes were masked to an extent by both Norris and Oscar Piastri contributing strong points to propel McLaren up the constructors’ championship table.
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“I think, when you reflect on it, they missed a lot of opportunities on the driver’s side [last] year,” Horner told PlanetF1.
“They had two competitive drivers, which was strong for them in the constructors’.
“But I’m sure Lando will perhaps look back and think three or four wins from this campaign, with the car that he had at many races, is probably less than they could have.
“But I’m sure they’ll come back. They’ll learn from that, for sure.”
McLaren is one of only two teams to maintain a consistent driver line-up for the coming campaign while Red Bull will see Liam Lawson join Verstappen in place of Sergio Perez.
The Mexican is poised to sit out the season after being dropped by the Milton Keynes squad off the back of a difficult 2024.
Perez scored barely a third of the points of Verstappen, a performance that played a considerable part in Red Bull slumping to third in the constructors’ championship having headed the competition by as much as 71 points at the British Grand Prix.
It finished the season 77 points behind McLaren, which trailed Red Bull by 115 points after the Miami Grand Prix.
While Red Bull’s advantage in the constructors’ championship was eroded, Verstappen was able to keep his points lead largely stable despite an inferior car.
After Silverstone, he headed the drivers’ title by 84 points over Norris, his nearest rival, and ended up sealing the his fourth crown by 63 points.
That was despite not winning a race from the Spanish to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, a 10-event winless streak.
“I think that’s always been the strength of this team – that we are an out-and-out race team,” Horner said of Red Bull’s ability to grid out a result despite having an inferior car.
“That’s always been a part of the philosophy that I’ve instilled since the very beginning.
“When I came in 2005, ‘Let’s focus on maximizing our chances and opportunities and punch above our weight where we can’.
“It has always been our ethos.
“We went through some hardened years from 2010 to ’13, and then we went through difficult years from ’14 onwards, but we were still winning races when the occasion allowed.
“There was that determination, grit, and race sharpness within the team that has always enabled us to maximise our results.”
Red Bull heads into 2025 with Honda power units, the final year of the relationship before switching to an in-house developed engine, in partnership with Ford, for 2026.
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