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Horner calls for rethink

NEWS STORY
04/06/2025

Red Bull boss believes the race director should make the call on handing a position back rather than waiting on stewards.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of Max Verstappen's actions on Sunday, it followed two calls from his team; the first ordering him to pit under the Safety Car, when he was switched to hards, and the second when he was told to yield position to George Russell, (wrongly) believing that their driver was about to be ordered to do so after perceiving him to have left the track and gained an advantage.

Already frustrated to be on the white-banded rubber, the Dutchman was incensed at being ordered to hand back a position that was rightfully his after holding off the Mercedes in Turn 1.

"It was very, very marginal," admits Horner. "It looked for all intents and purposes that it was going to be a penalty, so therefore the instruction was given to give that place back, which he was obviously upset and annoyed about because he felt that, one, he'd been left no space and, two, that George hadn't been fully in control.

"It's very hard for the team to try and make that call because you're going on historical precedents," he adds. "You're trying to pre-empt what the stewards and the race directors are thinking.

"So, I think it would be beneficial to the teams, in that instance, for the race director to make that call and say you either give it back or you get a penalty, rather than having to try and second-guess what the stewards are going to think."

Asked about the original decision to pit him under the Safety Car, Horner says: "The safety car came out at probably the worst possible time in terms of our strategy, because you're faced with the choice of, do you stay out on an eight-lap old, heavily pushed soft tyre, at which point you would get eaten up at the restart, and it looked like there would be circa ten racing laps left.

"Unfortunately, the only set of tyres that we had available was a new set of hards. Our feeling was that a new set of hards was better than an eight-lap-old, heavily degraded set of softs. You don't want to stay on that set of tyres because you know everybody else has taken a fresh set.

"With 20/20 hindsight, you'd have left him out," he admits. "He would have got passed by the two McLarens. Would he have got passed by Leclerc? You never know.

"You make a decision with the information you have at hand. The risk with going onto the three-stop is that in a safety car scenario, in the last third of the race or quarter of the race, you're exposed."

George Russell, who, like Charles Leclerc, had pitted several laps earlier for softs, has since claimed that had things remained as they were, Verstappen would have probably passed them both by the end of the race as their tyres degraded.

"Max was obviously upset because, first of all, he's had Leclerc take a swipe at him on the straight, and then he's got dive-bombed at Turn 1 by George," said Horner. "And the way that these regulations are now, it's all about where that front axle is.

"We've seen so many occasions this year where penalties have been given. We've seen it been noted and we've seen it gone to the stewards. The next thing is, you're expecting to get a penalty. So that's why it was: 'OK, you know what? We're going to have to give this place up.'"

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READERS COMMENTS

 

1. Posted by ffracer, 2 hours ago

"@Superbird70 - I respectfully disagree. Any violation with under 10 laps must be decided within a sector, no exceptions, Virtual SC situations, with those few laps remaining ruin races. FIA needs a dedicated full-time Director who has made the best calls so we can move forward. "

Rating: Neutral (0)     Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by JamesD, 9 hours ago

"I switched off listening to Horner in 2009 when he was vile to reporters after he came out of the meeting that ruled double diffusers were legal. No need to be nasty to be people doing their job just because you didn't get your way Christian. Yeah, 'Christian' - there's an oxymoron if ever there was one."

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3. Posted by Superbird70, 03/06/2025 21:43

"@ffracer- maybe the solution if you want an instant correct decision is to employ a virtual safety car for every stewards review. That would make the races so much more entertaining."

Rating: Negative (-1)     Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by ffracer, 03/06/2025 19:10

"Christian Horner is absolutely right. Every other sport has a decision made immediately or the play is stopped until a quick and proper decision is rendered. An F1 race can't stop unless it is red flagged so a quick and thorough decision is essential. The stewards still take too long, untenable when there are less than 10 laps left.

Regardless of the RBR pitwall mistakes, we were robbed again of a great race . If the
stewards or Race Director weighed in immediately against Russell's pass, or Leclerc s squeeze on Verstappen- it could have easily turned into a disaster of Ericsson Monza Gaunyou Alfa Romeo proportions, if not for Verstappen's mastery each time... until he Imploded. "

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5. Posted by Superbird70, 03/06/2025 14:17

"Red Bull took the wrong gamble and lost, twice. First the tires, and second giving the place back without being told to do
so."

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6. Posted by Burton, 03/06/2025 12:41

"Sensational waffle."

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7. Posted by Hobgoblin, 03/06/2025 12:27

"I'm not sure that taking the decision away from the decision makers and giving it to another decision maker is the right decision.
It will most likely take longer as they decide who gets to decide, and whether there will be grounds for the teams decide to protest that decision.
There is only one team that benefits from the decisions made by the race director - so not really surprised by Horner's suggestion..."

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8. Posted by Max Noble, 03/06/2025 11:03

"I think Michael Massi learned the hard way that some people get real upset with “Captain’s Call” application of the rules. Given it gave V. Max his first championship I’m not surprised Horner is in favour of more of that!
"

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9. Posted by Spindoctor, 03/06/2025 10:33

"Irritating though his 'contributions' to discussions about F1 usually are, Horner has a point. The current 'will they, won't they' situation is unsatisfactory, as is the 'option' often taken, to serve a post-race time penalty.
Manoeuvres like that one that are less than clear-cut still need a quick decision say within 2 laps, followed by giving the place back. The officials need to communicate it to the teams quickly,
If the race is too close to the end, then a time penalty should be applied.
"

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