Horner joins Verstappen in disbelief by double standards applied by stewards on Piastri's penalty

16:27, 07 Jul

Updated: 17:45, 07 Jul

Co-author:Tobia Elia

byNicole Mulder

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner says he’s not surprised by the harsh penalty Oscar Piastri received during the British Grand Prix — unlike Max Verstappen. What he doesn’t understand, however, is why George Russell wasn’t penalised for a similar incident in Canada.

Piastri was handed a ten-second time penalty for suddenly braking while leading the field behind the safety car — a situation that Horner believes is comparable to what Russell did last month in Montreal, also with Verstappen right behind him. Yet, no penalty was issued on that occasion.

Horner amazed that Piastri was penalized, but Russell wasn't

''I wasn't surprised to see him (Piastri) get a penalty. That was what you would expect. It was probably more surprising that George didn't get one in Montreal, to be honest with you,'' said Horner in a conversation with a small group of selected media, including GPblog. "Unfortunately, our race started to go the wrong way from that moment."

''Unfortunately, our race unfolded from that point but Max's recovery as a track rider, he was one of the fastest cars on the track so that low downforce was a gamble. It paid off yesterday and as I say, had it not been for good old blighty weather we'd have been alright.''

After the race in Silverstone, the FIA reported that at the moment of braking, Piastri applied 59.2 psi of brake pressure. In Canada, according to the stewards, Russell applied only around 30 psi — not enough to be considered ‘erratic’. Red Bull went on to lodge a protest, but it was ultimately rejected.

Was Verstappen's spin a direct result of Piastri incident?

According to Horner, the incident with Piastri had direct consequences for Max Verstappen, who spun shortly after the restart approaching Stowe: ''Oscar obviously did what he did on the brakes on the run up to Stowe with Max.''

''First of all it caught him out as you're preparing to take the restart, caught him out completely unaware to what was going on so, all your preparation, your switches, everything you don't manage to get in the right place.''

''Oscar's then gone, Max trying to go with him and obviously he's had a half spin out of Stowe, but it was a very good catch from him, but slotted back effectively in 10th place behind Carlos. Once you were in the pack in that dirty air in those wet conditions on the downforce level that we were running, you could see just how hard it was for him.

''But then as the circuit started to dry out, you could see the car starting to find more and more pace. And he was able to pick his way through. So he recovered to P5 at the end of the race as Lance Stroll started to fade on the soft tires. So yeah, a difficult race today." concluded Horner.