Horner: Biggest winner will be Formula 1 next year

McLaren won the 2024 F1 constructors' title with Ferrari a close second. On the drivers' side, Lando Norris pushed Max Verstappen until the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where the Dutchman secured his fourth F1 crown.

But what made matters interesting, especially with 2025 in mind, was the fact that drivers for Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull (not Sergio Perez) were in contention for wins in the second half of the season.

This means that these teams will theoretically be contending for wins from the start of next year, which will result in an enthralling 2025 F1 season.

Speaking after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Christian Horner was gracious in defeat after Red Bull failed in defending their 2023 F1 constructors' title and credited McLaren, who won their first title since 1998.

Horner said: "Congratulations to McLaren, to all the men and women there. We know how hard it is to win a constructors’ World Championship and the dedication and effort that has to go into that.

"So to Zak [Brown] and Andrea [Stella] and their shareholders, but most of all the men and women at McLaren, congratulations.

“They’ve been outstanding this year, they’ve had two drivers that have performed extremely well and were deserving victors in the end," he added, hinting at the fact that Perez did not deliver points for Red Bull.

"I’m sure that we raised pulses and blood pressure at the start of the race with the moment with Oscar [when Verstappen collided with the Australian] but, yeah, they deserved that constructors’ championship this year, despite the fact that we won more races, more Sprint races.

“Obviously collectively we didn’t put enough points on the board to defend that title, so very well done to them," the Briton maintained.

While Verstappen won his fourth F1 title with three races to spare, 2025 will be a totally different game, keeping in mind how Red Bull's performance dropped in the second half of the season while their rivals grew stronger.

Horner reflected: "I think if you looked at points since the summer break until before this race [Abu Dhabi], Charles [Leclerc] was very slightly ahead in terms of individual points scored, so you can see it’s going to be massively close next year.

"You’ve got at least four teams that are going to be in contention – in the last year of these regulations – of winning Grands Prix, so I think the biggest winner will be Formula 1 next year.

"I think that it’s going to be fine margins everywhere, and of course getting out the blocks as well is always imperative, but you can see it’s such a long season that consistency will be key," he claimed.

Red Bull was embroiled in controversy even before the 2024 F1 season started, with Horner's sexting scandal that also resulted in a civil war within the team as Jos Verstappen and Helmut Marko became involved, while Adrian Newey leaving along with other key figures meant the Milton Keynes squad was fighting with one hand behind its back, with Perez's performance struggles making life even tougher.

But Horner is adamant his team delivered a strong season against the odds. He explained: "It’s certainly been a busy year, off track and on track, but I think what is the most important thing to reflect on this year is the way that the team has stuck together, has worked as a team.

"And whilst Abu Dhabi didn’t go our way, one week ago we won a big race in Qatar and the nine victories that we achieved [across the season with] all those things that I just mentioned.

“If you weren’t comparing it to 2023 [when Red Bull won 21 out of 22 races], it’s still a hell of a year, so to all the men and women back at Milton Keynes who have worked crazy hours, they can be very proud of what they’ve achieved this year," the Red Bull boss concluded.