2 weeks Ago By Harry Smith
Former FIA steward Johnny Herbert believes that Christian Horner has ‘zero understanding’ of wheel-to-wheel racing after the Red Bull team principal defended Max Verstappen for his conduct at Turn One in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Verstappen lost control of the lead to Oscar Piastri when the lights went out, and the McLaren driver inched ahead as the two cars barrelled towards Turn One. Rather than concede the position, the polesitter attempted to hang it out around the outside, but he quickly ran out of room as his rival shut the door.
From there, Verstappen took to the run-off area and emerged out of Turn Two with the lead. Rather than concede the position, he powered on, and the stewards reacted by giving the Dutchman a five-second time penalty. This ultimately cost him the race win, as Piastri crossed the line with a 2.
8-second advantage. While most pundits believed that Verstappen’s punishment was fair, Horner and the Red Bull camp disagreed. The team principal arrived in his post-race media briefings with printed screenshots of his driver’s onboard cameras, alleging that he got to the apex of the corner first.
“I don’t know how people will argue that it was an unfair penalty,” Herbert explained to Beste Online Casino Nederland . “The people arguing against it have probably never been in a race car, and definitely not in an F1 car, so they have zero understanding. “I’ll include Christian Horner in this, too.
I know he’s the team principal and he’s trying to do what’s best for Red Bull , but sometimes you have to just admit you’re wrong and give the place back. Most drivers are very aware of when they should give the place back. “It was a definite penalty, because when you go into any corner, especially a tight one like that, you’ve got to be on the apex near the kerb.
The apex of the turn was not where Verstappen was, who was two metres out. “ Horner then came up with the picture of evidence to show who was in front in Turn One, which was a load of baloney, but to me, it was passing the buck to the FIA and the stewards. It’s wrong, it shouldn’t be like that.
Red Bull had a chance to give the place back, but they chose not to.” Verstappen now finds himself 12 points behind Piastri at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings, with Lando Norris sandwiched between the two stars. McLaren are looking to extend their advantage in Miami next weekend.
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