Christian Horner explains radical Max Verstappen gamble which backfired

Christian Horner has explained how Red Bull's radical gamble with Max Verstappen's car backfired in the British Grand Prix.

After struggling through Friday practice, Verstappen and the team opted to take out rear-wing angle, trimming it to a low-downforce set-up.

He was then able to take a stunning pole position, using his superior straight-line speed to pip Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to P1.

However, this decision backfired when heavy rain hit Silverstone, meaning Verstappen was squirming around with a lack of rear downforce, culminating in a spin on the Lap 21 safety car restart, dropping him from second to 10th. 

He rallied as the track dried in the closing laps to finish in fifth place, but the Dutchman now finds himself 69 points behind Piastri in the standings, nearly three grands prix worth of a full share of 25 points. 

Reflecting, Horner described how the 'Monza level' of downforce had bitten the team.

"We trimmed out the car to basically Monza levels of downforce and were able to get the balance, which enabled Max to get a fantastic pole position," Horner told media, including RacingNews365. 

"It was based on the forecast that there might be a 20% chance of rain on Sunday morning, but dry afterwards, and I don't think any forecast we saw showed the rain was going to be that heavy and that late. 

"It was very clear early on that Oscar had quite an advantage pace-wise, and as the tyres overheated as it was drying out, it was evident McLaren was miles ahead of the rest of the pack, and we were just trying to get to the point where the rain started.

"It was a difficult race, and had the race been two hours later, it could have been a different outcome, but it would have been very tough to beat the McLarens, but we should have been on the podium."