Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner expressed dissatisfaction with the two ten-second penalties given to Max Verstappen at the Formula 1 Mexican GP, where the Dutchman finished sixth after two incidents with Lando Norris. According to Horner, the punishment was ‘almost unprecedented’ and he called for a dialogue between the FIA and the drivers to clarify the limits of contention in races.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Horner stated that Verstappen did not leave the track limits at turn 4 and that, at turn 7, Norris opened up space too late, which ended up resulting in both drivers leaving the track. “We are entering dangerous territory where an aggressive assault could become acceptable. I think the FIA and the drivers need to sit down and define what is acceptable and what is not. Today, I thought the two ten seconds were a little heavy,” said Horner.
Horner also reacted to comments from McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who criticized Verstappen’s actions as ‘ridiculous’. “You have to follow the rules. Let’s analyze this race and learn from it. On Saturday, our priority was the qualifying pace, but our performance in the race did not match that of Ferrari and McLaren,” said the Red Bull boss, indicating that the focus now is on recovering the competitive pace for the next stages.
Despite Verstappen maintaining a 47-point lead over Norris in the drivers’ championship, Red Bull is feeling the pressure in the constructors’ championship, falling to third place with Ferrari and McLaren achieving increasingly positive results. “We have to keep striving and understand the fluctuation in performance we saw today. It seems that the tires are extremely sensitive, and if you are not in the ideal window, you fall behind”, concluded Horner.
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