CHRISTIAN HORNER admits Red Bull must find a solution to their issues quickly after a disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix raised further talk over Max Verstappen’s future.

Red Bull, who have delivered Verstappen the last four drivers’ world championships, appeared well off the pace of McLaren in the opening two races of the season.

A stunning pole and win from the Dutchman in Japan hinted at more potential in the car but he qualified only seventh in Bahrain and endured a miserable race, hampered by two slow pit stops, to finish sixth.

After the race, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told Sky Sports Deutschland that “the concern is great” over Verstappen’s future with the team.

Horner believes the Suzuka success masked the ongoing issues that they need to fix.

“I think this race has exposed some pitfalls that are obviously very clear that we need to get on top of very quickly,” he said.

“I think ultimately you can mask it a little through setup, and we were able to achieve that last weekend in Suzuka.

“I think we understand where the issues are, it’s introducing the solutions that obviously take a little more time.”

Verstappen told Dutch media after qualifying that he was “taking part” in the championship and not fighting for it.

“Look, it was a bad weekend for the team, nothing went our way from the start of the race, we didn’t get off the line cleanly and pit stops didn’t work well for us today,” Horner added.

“But it’s a 24-race championship, we’re eight points behind in the drivers championship, and we know we need to make progress very quickly.

“So it was important today to score the most points, and he fought for every point that he could in a difficult car today, so it’s how they add up at the end of the year that’s important.”

Oscar Piastri cruised to victory at the Sakhir circuit, ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris.

It means Norris leads Piastri by three points after four races, with Verstappen eight points off the lead and six ahead of Russell.

Verstappen insists he is not getting too down about his struggles in the car ahead of the next round in Saudi Arabia this weekend.

“I don’t need to reset. I’m OK, it is what it is. I always try to do the best I can even when it is disappointing or frustrating situations,” he said.

“You have to move on, and we keep discussing, trying to improve. We know that we have our problems even if you win a race, that does not go away.

“We just have to keep on working.”