Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull Racing, continues to disagree with the grid penalty given to his star driver, Max Verstappen. The Dutchman received a one-place penalty for the race in Qatar, but this did not deter Verstappen from winning the Grand Prix in a spectacular fashion. Horner shares his theory that the penalty was primarily based on the ‘hysteria of Russell’.
Verstappen impressively clinched the victory in Qatar, but it was not an easy feat for the Dutchman. The Red Bull driver secured pole position the day before, but lost it after the session to George Russell. Verstappen received a one-place grid penalty from the stewards for ‘unnecessarily slow driving’ in Q3.
“Let’s just say he was not pleased with the decision,” team boss Horner commented to the media present. “It was a very strange decision, given the circumstances (during the qualification). Both cars were driving slow laps and I felt that George and Mercedes were making a big fuss about it.”
Hysteria of Russell
Horner also saw the trip to the stewards as somewhat of a game tactic by rival Mercedes. “I think the penalty from (Saturday) was more based on the hysteria of George, who was quite hysterical this weekend,” said the team boss. “I think there was a bit of game tactic at play.”
The Brit even found it ‘unprecedented’ that his star driver received a grid penalty for an action during a slow lap. According to Horner, it motivated Verstappen to beat Russell at all costs. “He turned the dirtiest side of the grid into one of his best starts of the year and was determined that wherever George was going to brake, he would brake later,” said Horner.
