Christian Horner addresses F1 teams’ ‘suspicions’ after Verstappen investigation
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Red Bull chief principal Christian Horner has denied claims that his team pressured AlphaTauri into not sending a representative to Max Versappen’s hearing at the Singapore Grand Prix. The Dutchman was reprimanded for impeding Yuki Tsunoda in qualifying, with many believing that he should have been handed a grid penalty.
Verstappen lost his unbeaten record at Marina Bay, finishing fifth during an incredibly underwhelming weekend for Red Bull. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz came home in front on the day, with Lando Norris being forced to settle for second and Lewis Hamilton completing the podium.
Given how Verstappen performed during qualifying, his defeat on Sunday did not come as a surprise. He was called to the stewards after qualifying to discuss three separate incidents of alleged blocking – one of which was for coming in the pit lane.
Verstappen received two formal reprimands, his first of the season, and Red Bull were also handed a £4,300 fine for failing to communicate effectively with their driver prior to him blocking Tsunoda. Given the accumulated offences, many felt that Verstappen should have been handed a grid penalty for his conduct – and questions have since been raised as to why AlphaTauri failed to represent themselves in the stewards.
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With ‘suspicions’ reportedly growing of Red Bull pressuring the team into not attending, Horner insisted that Red Bull had not been in contact with AlphaTauri. Asked by Sky Sports Racing if there was pressure, Horner explained: “Absolutely none at all. It’s purely AlphaTauri’s choice, I don’t think a team representative was requested and we only found out there wasn’t going to be one actually in the meeting.
“I think that the stewards’ decisions are the stewards’ decisions, they listen to the facts, they listen to the drivers, the circumstances surrounding that. They obviously chose a penalty to penalise the team for not giving Max the necessary information so there’s always going to be those debates over steward consistency, it’s a tough job for them, we’ve seen it so many times. There was certainly no pressure on our side and we weren’t sure what to expect.”
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Heading into the Japanese Grand Prix, the incidents are still fresh in the minds of many and Norris is the latest driver to speak out and call for the FIA to be firmer with their punishments going forward.
The McClaren star said: “I don’t want to say too much as I’ll just create controversy. I think the blocking one on track was the one that should have been a penalty. It should just be harsher penalties for blocking people because so many people do it. It ruins your lap, it ruins your qualifying. It put Yuki out in qualifying. He was P1 in Q1 and probably would have been P1 in Q3…all the way!”
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