Red Bull Racing lodged two protests against George Russell for his behaviour under safety car conditions. When asked if they thought the Mercedes driver was trying to goad Max until a penalty, Horner said, “You could hear from George's press comments yesterday. His objective was reasonably clear. I don't think there was any surprises with that.”

Horner then doubled down, explaining, “It's certainly not personal to George. It's the way the regulations are.”

When asked if Verstappen had anything to do with lodging the protests, he said, “No, not at all. Max was talking to you guys and had no idea.”

After their meeting with the stewards, the two were seen leaving together. Shortly after that, Verstappen boarded his jet before the verdict was ever released.