Horner refutes Verstappen accusation on F1 issue

Christian Horner has shut down accusations that Max Verstappen deliberately ran Lando Norris out of road in Mexico with the F1 championship view in mind.

The pair had a duo of incidents in a handful of corners which resulted in two 10-second time penalties for Verstappen.

It has since been suggested that the Dutchman purposely went aggressive on Norris to hinder the latter's chances of closing the gap in the championship.

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill questioned Horner over the situation and pondered if the long-term gain was behind Verstappen's car placement - a theory that Horner has denied.

"Not really. I think it's more the opposite way around," Horner replied to Hill on Sky Sports F1.

"It's the inverse way of that, where the car on the outside... it's almost like going for the offside rule, and they're trying to get ahead, or show that their nose is ahead going into the apex, so come off the brakes and just carry speed.

"Of course, if you're on the outside, you're inherently taking more risk because the inertia of these cars will always carry you to the exit of the corner, and of course, the inside car taking that sharper line, it will take that.

"So this is where it becomes very difficult to allow a car's width for the car on the outside. It's sort of redefining all the principles of how these kids go racing from go-karts upwards."

'Verstappen using his racing instincts'

Horner asserted Red Bull has no interest in playing rough in the remaining races to ensure it emerges victorious in the standings.

"Not at all,” he said. “We want to go and race hard and fair, and I think that incident, amongst others, will no doubt get discussed. And of course, what you want as well is consistency.

"We saw several instances similar to that, some went punished, some went unpunished. I think this is where the race director and the drivers no doubt will sit down and discuss this, because we all want to see a good fight to the end of the championship.

"Max wants it, we as a team want it, but the rules of engagement have got to be clear, and it shouldn't be over complicated. It doesn't need to be like a cricket manual for an overtake. I think they just need to keep it simple."

Horner added Verstappen is relying on his instincts behind the wheel, rather than deploying thought-out tactics.

"It's the instincts of a race driver, and Max will always go for the gap. He'll always be hard at the apex of a corner.

"Max been racing for about 20 years now, and the inside line, going for the apex, he's controlling the corner at that point. That's what he would have done throughout his career.

"Now, I don't dispute the second [incident in Mexico], but the first one for me, that's just hard racing."