Christian Horner has produced a series of shots from Max Verstappen’s onboard camera, which he believes prove the Dutchman shouldn’t have been punished at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion was forced to serve a five-second penalty during his pit stop, which put him behind eventual winner Oscar Piastri.
The penalty was handed down by the stewards for a first corner incident which saw him go off track and retain the lead of the race under pressure from Piastri.
The stewards ruled that the Australian had been alongside Verstappen at the apex of the corner, giving him a legitimate shot at the corner and meaning that the Red Bull driver should’ve given his position back.
In the aftermath of the race, Horner came armed with screenshots when speaking to the media, displaying evidence for why he believed Verstappen should not have been penalised by race stewards.
In a photo circling on social media, Horner can be seen holding printed out photos of the incident while pleading his case, suggesting that Verstappen could have won the race without the penalty.
Horner brings evidence to press conference
In conversation with media after the race, Horner said: “Obviously, we spoke to the stewards after the race. They think it was a slam dunk. So the problem is, if we’re to protest it, then they’re going to most likely hold their line.
“We’ll ask them to have a look at the onboard footage that wasn’t available at the time. We’ll put this [screenshots of Verstappen’s on board camera] in front of them first, but I think it’s highly unlikely.”
He continued: “I thought it was very harsh. We didn’t concede the position because we didn’t believe that he’d done anything wrong. You can quite clearly see at the apex of the corner that Max is clearly ahead. The rules of engagement were discussed previously, and it was a very harsh decision.
“If we’d have given it up, the problem is you then obviously run in the dirty air as well and you are then at risk with George, so the best thing to do was at that point we got the penalty, get your head down, keep going.
“We were in good shape. We had to serve the five-second penalty, and thereafter, on the same basic stint as Oscar he finished 2.6 seconds behind, so without that five-second penalty today it would have been a win. But there’s always going to be a difference of opinion over a very marginal decision like that.”
