Red Bull boss Horner questions stewards’ tough call in Jeddah, as Verstappen’s penalty costs possible win in tight Saudi showdown.
Red Bull remains frustrated with the penalty that cost Max Verstappen a potential win at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but team boss Christian Horner says they’re unlikely to formally protest the decision.
Verstappen was hit with a time penalty after re-taking position from Oscar Piastri by going off-track — a move stewards ruled illegal. He still managed to finish second, but Horner believes the decision was overly severe.
“First of all, congratulations to Oscar on the win,” Horner said. “But without that penalty, based on the final gap, we probably would’ve taken the victory. From our perspective, Max was ahead going into the corner, and we feel the penalty was harsh. At that point, it was better to serve the penalty and focus on the race rather than risk losing more time.”
Rather than giving the position back to Piastri — which could have left Verstappen vulnerable to George Russell — Red Bull opted to keep track position and take the five-second penalty during the race.
“We didn’t concede the place because we genuinely believed Max had done nothing wrong. Looking at the corner, we thought he had a clear advantage. The rules of engagement had been discussed before the race, and we thought Max was within them.”
Giving up the position, Horner explained, would have left Verstappen stuck in dirty air and possibly opened the door for Russell. “Once the penalty came through, it made more sense to accept it and move on.”
Still, Horner wants to sit down with the stewards to understand the reasoning behind the call. He believes Verstappen’s positioning at the apex showed he had a legitimate claim to the corner — even if he did brake slightly later to hold the lead.
That tactic, however, didn’t fly with the race officials. Despite his frustrations, Horner admits there’s little value in formally requesting a review.
“You have to judge these situations on a case-by-case basis, and this one was right on the edge. We spoke to the stewards after the race — they were convinced it was clear-cut. The reality is, if we protest, they’re unlikely to change their minds. So a review doesn’t make much sense.”
Instead, Red Bull will focus on internal analysis and discussions with the FIA. “We’ll talk with them and go through the onboard footage that wasn’t available at the time. When you watch it closely, it’s hard to see how they came to that conclusion.”
“They both went into the corner at the same speed. Oscar went deeper, and Max didn’t just disappear — there has to be some room for racing. Maybe it’s time to revisit the rules. What happened to the idea of ‘let them race’ on the opening lap? It feels like that principle is fading.”
Despite the controversy, Horner sees positives in Red Bull’s weekend — especially in terms of performance.
“There’s a lot we can take away from this. Our pace was right there with McLaren’s. After the first medium stint, we were in a really strong position. Max was driving at the limit and maximizing everything.”
He pointed out how strong McLaren had looked just one day earlier. “On Friday, they were 1.2 seconds ahead of everyone. This was easily our closest race in terms of raw pace. It wasn’t the result we deserved, but we still scored valuable points. We’re only 12 points off the lead in the Drivers’ Championship and closed the gap to Lando.”
Horner also reflected on a missed opportunity for Yuki Tsunoda. “It was a shame for Yuki — he had a great qualifying and could have scored good points. Unfortunately, he lost time during the car swap, and there wasn’t much more he could’ve done. Restarting the car was an option, but the risk of an incident in Jeddah is always high.”
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Horner Seeks Answers After Verstappen’s “Harsh” Penalty, But Rules Out Appeal
Horner Seeks Answers After Verstappen’s “Harsh” Penalty, But Rules Out Appeal
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