After Verstappen’s anger at the Spanish GP, Horner calls on the FIA to enforce track limit rules and avoid team confusion.
Christian Horner understands the frustration shown by Max Verstappen during Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. The Red Bull team principal believes his driver’s reaction was prompted by the actions of Charles Leclerc and George Russell.
“Look, he was obviously upset because, first of all, Leclerc made contact with him on the straight, and then there was a divebomb into Turn 1 by George,” he said. “With the current regulations, everything depends on the positioning of the front axle.”
Frustration Over Racing Calls
“The drivers know the rules, and those are the rules they follow. Now, the question is whether George was in control of the situation at that point. Could he have made the corner? We’ve seen so many occasions this year where penalties have been handed out.”
“We saw that they were noted, that they were passed on to the stewards. Then, you expect a penalty to come, which is why we said ‘you know what, we’ll have to give the place back’.”
Horner takes the opportunity to defend Verstappen and stresses that Leclerc and Russell bear some responsibility for his driver’s outburst: “I think it’s clear you could hear that he was frustrated.”
“He was angry, you could hear it, with Charles and George. It’s something we’ll discuss internally and look into. He’s always been very good at maximising the points available.”
Let FIA Decide Fairly
Horner believes that leaving the decision of whether to give the place back to the teams, as is now required by the FIA, is not a good approach: “Yes, but I think that’s where it would be good, as a referee, as a race director, to say either we play on or you have to give the ball back.”
“I think it’s very difficult for the team, subjectively, to try to make that decision because you’re relying on historical precedents, you’re looking at what’s in front of you, and trying to anticipate what the stewards and race directors are going to think.”
“So I believe it would be beneficial for the teams, in this case, for the race director to make that decision and say either you give the car back or you get a penalty, rather than having to guess what the stewards are going to think.”
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