Red Bull Confirms Potential Right Of Review Decision Over Max Verstappen Mexico Penalties
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has confirmed that his team will not seek a Right of Review petition for either of the two 10-second penalties given to Max Verstappen during the Mexico City Grand Prix. Horner confirmed the importance of drivers fully understanding the regulations and called for greater clarity on racing rules moving forward.
The past two weekends have sparked heated discussions over the fairness of Lando Norris’ penalty at the United States Grand Prix and the need for clearer regulations. Since Austin, mounting pressure has been placed on the FIA to clarify and, if needed, revise rules to discourage driving that exploits grey areas. In fact, 19 of the 20 Formula 1 drivers have called for immediate action, insisting there's no reason to wait until 2025 for regulatory changes.
At the Circuit of the Americas, Norris was penalized after being forced off the track by Verstappen and rejoining with a gain in position. However, in Mexico, it was Verstappen who received two penalties after the stewards deemed him at fault in separate incidents with Norris at Turn 4 and Turn 7 on Lap 10 of the 71-lap race.
While it was expected that Red Bull would challenge the penalties through a Right of Review request, Horner has admitted that the team will not challenge the verdict. However, he claimed that amid the controversies, the elephant in the room needs addressing so that clarity is obtained for the future Grands Prix. Speaking to the media, he said:
"We won't activate the right or review on this.
"The most important thing to address is: what is the way to go racing going forward?
"I'm not sure that it's clear to the drivers, or certain aspects of it, that you've just got to have your nose ahead at the apex point, which means you're going to do this: you're going to come off the brakes and carry speed to get to that point to say: 'I'm ahead of that at that point in time', even though you wouldn't have made the pass."
Horner defended Verstappen by distinguishing between the incident at the USGP and the first clash in Mexico, underscoring once more the need for clear rules of engagement to prevent similar issues in the future. He added:
"It's slightly different, because both of them went off the track last week, and you can't gain an advantage by passing off track.
"This is different, because Max actually hasn't gone off the track. He stayed within the perimeter.
"It's something that really does need to get tidied up moving forward, because there's great racing going on, and I think it's important that the rules of engagement are fair, rather than giving an advantage to the outside line.
"In the history of motorsport, being on the outside has always been the more risky place to be, but now it's almost the advantage, because all you got to do is have your nose ahead at the point they turn in, irrelevant of whether you're going to make the corner or not."