Christian Horner has conveyed sympathy with Max Verstappen after the Dutchman’s incident with George Russell towards the end of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix.
The reigning World Champion collided with the Mercedes driver on the 64th lap of the 66-lap race, having been advised to give fourth place to the Brit.
Verstappen was swamped by both Russell and Charles Leclerc upon the restart on Lap 61, when a late Safety Car period came to a conclusion.
After slight contact with Leclerc, Verstappen opted to take to the escape road adjacent to Turns 1 and 2, which left the Red Bull pit wall concerned he had gained an unfair advantage on Russell.
When recommended to relinquish the position, Verstappen appeared to slow and then build up some speed, touching the side of Russell’s car at Turn 5 as it pulled ahead of the Red Bull.
The incident saw Verstappen handed a 10 second time penalty, and an additional three penalty points, leaving him just one away from a race ban.
After the race, Horner was diplomatic about the incident, and shifted focus onto the initial run of action which instigated the subsequent drama.
“Look, he was obviously upset because, first of all, he’s had Leclerc take a swipe at him on the straight, and then he’s got dive-bombed at turn one by George,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“The way that these regulations are now, it’s all about where that front axle is. The drivers know the rules, and they’re the rules that they’re playing to.
“Now, the argument is, was George under control at that point in time? Would he have made the corner? Now, we’ve seen so many occasions this year where penalties have been given.
“We’ve seen it been noted, it’s seen it gone to the stewards. The next thing is you’re expecting to get a penalty, so that’s why it was, ‘OK, do you know what, we’re going to have to give this place up’.
Russell incident to be ‘discussed internally’
Horner had yet been able to reach Verstappen to speak to him personally about his take on the incident, with the Dutchman also facing the media and visiting the stewards to discuss the incident with Leclerc, which was subsequently given no further action.
When asked if the red mist had descended on Verstappen Horner said he understood why his driver was irked by the series of events, and added the team will conduct its own investigation.
“I think it’s clear that you could hear that he was frustrated,” he said. “He didn’t agree, you can hear, with both Charles and George.
“I haven’t had a chance to speak to him because he’s had to speak to you guys and now he’s up in the stewards talking about the Charles incident.
“It’s something that we’ll discuss internally and look at. He’s always been very good at maximising the points available.”
Verstappen was audibly miffed by the instruction to hand Russell the position, leaving Horner to conclude that he would prefer a return to race control making a firm decision, rather than a team having to do so in a preventative fashion.
“Yeah, but I think that’s where it would be nice, as the referee, as a race director, to either say play on or you need to give it back.
“I think it’s very hard for the team, subjectively, to try and make that call because you’re going on hysterical precedence, you’re looking at what you have in front of you, and you’re trying to pre-empt what the stewards and the race directors are thinking.
“So I think it would be beneficial to the teams, in that instance, for the race director to make that call and say you either give it back or you get a penalty, rather than having to try and second-guess what the stewards are going to think.”
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