Horner summoned by FIA over marshal comments

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been summoned by the stewards for comments made ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix that blamed a “rogue marshal” for Max Verstappen getting a penalty.

Horner was unhappy that Verstappen had been handed a five-place grid penalty for failing to respect a double waved yellow flag that was on the outside of the track to alert drivers to Pierre Gasly stopping on the pit straight in qualifying. While race control had cleared previous yellows, Gasly had been moving but had come to a halt by the time Verstappen passed, with no other warnings on his dash or from light panels.

The stewards said they were “sympathetic” to Red Bull’s defense against the infraction, but that it was ultimately up to the driver to take full responsibility for the way they respond to trackside flags, dropping Verstappen to seventh on the grid.

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Before the race started, Horner was critical of both the marshal and the stewards - adding “I think there needs to be some grown-ups make grown-up decisions” - and the FIA has now summoned him for his comments.

Horner is alleged to have breached the following two articles of the FIA International Sporting Code:

“Any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers, and more generally on the interest of motor sport and on the values defended by the FIA.”

And:

“Any misconduct towards: license-holders; officials; officers or member of the staff of the FIA; members of the staff of the organizer or promoter; members of the staff of the competitors; or doping control officials or any other person involved in a doping control carried out in accordance with Appendix A.”