Christian Horner warns F1 might get into ‘dangerous territory’ after Max Verstappen penalty

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Christian Horner has warned that Formula 1 could get into ‘dangerous territory’ following the penalty for Max Verstappen in the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver clocked up 20 seconds worth of penalties after various infractions on track, both of which included title rival Lando Norris.

The first incident occurred at Turn 4 where he forced Norris off the track, then again at Turn 8 where the stewards judged Verstappen to have left the track and gained an advantage.

Both incidents received 10-second time penalties from the stewards, in what was a statement move by the officials after the fallout from Verstappen’s driving in Austin.

Martin Brundle felt that Verstappen’s driving was ‘ridiculous’ when he pulled the move at Turn 8, while Horner was left unimpressed by the threshold to trigger a penalty from the stewards when discussing the penalties on Sky Sports post-race.

Christian Horner hopes FIA and drivers sit down to decide ‘what is acceptable’ in driving standards discussions

Verstappen’s driving has been at the centre of controversy throughout the season after he was penalised for moving under a braking zone during the Austrian GP, which ultimately led to Norris retiring from the race.

In Austin, it was a marginal defence manoeuvre that left some to question if he became the attacking driver, with McLaren filing a right to review the steward’s decision on penalising Norris.

This was ultimately rejected by the FIA because no new evidence was presented, but it did lead to a change in the driving guidelines that are set to be updated for the Qatar GP. Horner believes further discussions need to be made after the incidents in Mexico.

“Max didn’t leave the track at Turn 4 and at Turn 8 Lando left the door open and Max went through. The problem is that I think we’re going to get into very dangerous territory of, at what point is a dive bomb going to be ok?” said Horner.

“So I think the FIA and drivers need to sit down and decide what is acceptable and what isn’t. I thought two 10 seconds was a bit on the harsh side.”

Why Max Verstappen’s penalty was more severe in Mexico than Lando Norris’ in Austin

Norris only received a five-second time penalty for overtaking Verstappen off-track at Austin, which ultimately relegated him to fourth.

However, Verstappen’s penalty for the same infraction was doubled in Mexico as per the regular tariff for such an offence.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

This was after the stewards judged that Norris was attacking around the outside of Verstappen at Turn 12 in Austin and was therefore left “no alternative” but to leave the track. The stewards reduced the tariff to match the mitigating circumstances, which also enabled Norris to finish ahead of Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen had to serve his 20 seconds during a pit stop in the Mexico GP and briefly dropped out of the points before working his way up to sixth.