When Max Verstappen and Lando Norris went off track toward the of the United States Grand Prix, Red Bull’s Christian Horner felt a bit of deja vu.
“The pass was made off track. We’ve been on the receiving end of that—in fact, here.”
In 2017, it was Verstappen who was found to have gone over the line in passing Kimi Räikkonen, one of “numerous” times that Horner recalled Red Bull being involved in similar situations. With those committed to memory, “for us, it was crystal clear that the pass had been made off the track.
“Obviously all the drivers know acutely what the rules are. They discuss these issues in particular corners in the briefings with the various stewards and driver stewards and race directors.[…] He should have given the place back. He chose not to. So, therefore, there was a penalty. So, for us, it was very much a black and white scenario.”
Horner conceded that situations like this are “very difficult for the stewards and every incident is different. So, you have to look at every incident individually. And, you know, when you’re on the receiving end of it, it’s not nice. We’ve been on the receiving end of it numerous times, not just at this track, but at other tracks.
“We then have arguments of you want the right people on the podium. So, you have this, it’s happened so many times that I actually think the stewards dealt with it pretty rapidly and decently today.”
The end result was a penalty to Norris that placed him behind Verstappen, points that the McLaren driver desperately needed to try and catch the three-time defending champion—and points that Horner thinks the British driver could have retaken if he simply ceded the position on track.
With a 6-lap tyre delta and putting huge pressure on Verstappen for a series of laps, a legal pass felt inevitable despite the best efforts of the Dutch driver.
“What I perhaps didn’t understand was, it was clear there was going to be a penalty, or it looked pretty clear there was going to be a penalty […] with the car advantage and tyre advantage that McLaren had at that point of the race. It looked like he went to give the place back up at Turn 1, but there was some confusion there. If he’d have given the place back immediately, he probably would have had enough place to make the pass.”
Verstappen extended his lead to 57 points in the Drivers’ Championship as he outscored Norris by 5 in Austin. 5 rounds remain.
