Horner is always right, especially when he’s wrong. A trait that always finds its way in Red Bull. Being self-confident helps. However, always thinking you know better than everyone else can occasionally backfire. And that’s exactly what happened last Sunday, when something went wrong at the first corner of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for the reigning world champion.
Exclusive support for Max Verstappen
Max pulled off a stunning pole in Jeddah. An exceptional performance, as his RB21 is not on par with the McLarens. Nonetheless, Max’s inner circle remains intact. It’s clear that the engineers who support him on track have never lost the success-driven approach that in recent seasons has deeply shaped the identity of the Milton Keynes team.
The close-knit group around Max Verstappen continues to be a well-oiled, perfectly functioning machine. These are the same technicians who have long worked alongside the Dutch driver in managing the car and its conditions, race after race. Alongside the now-familiar figure of Gianpiero Lambiase, there are also Tom Hart and David Mart, true pillars working behind the scenes.
The former has been Max’s performance engineer since 2021, while the latter is the coordinator of the engineering team responsible for the power unit’s output. In short, while the gradual departure of key figures like Fallows, Marshall, and even Newey has weakened the technical project’s solidity, those still involved in optimizing the package on track continue to deliver results.
The facts between Max and Oscar
On top of that context, it must be said that, when it comes to in-race decisions—penalties or issues that may arise—Red Bull doesn’t always take the right path. This was once again evident in Jeddah, where they forcefully defended their view without considering that the FIA’s interpretation could lead to a penalty.
Avoiding conflict is not in Red Bull’s DNA. It’s always war, no matter what, because a particular political line must be followed—maybe not always effective, but consistent with the team’s thinking. Turn 1, Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Max tries to recover after a subpar start, but overdoes it. He dives inside Oscar Piastri aggressively, who of course shuts the door.
The FIA, finally (about time), has stopped inexplicably shielding the four-time F1 world champion. Everything is debatable, sure, but there’s still someone who makes the decisions—and in this case, the stewards’ ruling went against Red Bull’s position. An undeniable fact, which they could have contested by presenting crucial information that, naturally, Red Bull didn’t have.
The futility of Christian’s arguments
Christian Horner showed up at the press conference with a tablet, ready to present evidence and make his case. He even considered appealing, but after calmer advice within the team, the decision was made not to act and instead “accept” the 5-second penalty given to Max Verstappen. Red Bull could have given the position back to Oscar, but doing so would have all but eliminated their chances of winning.
“Without the penalty to Max Verstappen we would’ve won,” was Horner’s first comment on the matter. If Andrea Stella had replied, he could’ve done so in English—Space Boy’s mother tongue—to make the point crystal clear: “If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike.”
Christian, one last thing: with “ifs” and “buts,” you don’t get anywhere…
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