Max Verstappen defended over handling of contentious media questions

Christian Horner believes the way Max Verstappen handled himself through his media duties after the contentious Saudi Arabian Grand Prix showed "great maturity" from the Dutchman.

After getting out of his RB21 in second place, the Red Bull driver limited his answers when being interviewed by David Coulthard, unwilling to risk opening himself up to punishment from the FIA if he were to criticise the governing body and its overseeing of the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

The four-time F1 drivers' champion was unhappy with the penalty the stewards handed down to him for this first corner incident with Oscar Piastri.

The five-second time penalty proved to be race-defining, as he came home just 2.8 seconds behind the Australian.

Because Red Bull decided not to give the position back to the McLaren driver, had the advantage Verstappen gained not been deemed punishment-worthy, as the Milton Keynes squad had expected, the 64-time grand prix winner likely would have added another victory to his tally - and taken the lead of the drivers' championship fight.

Once in the official FIA press conference, Verstappen answered questions more freely, but still shut down ones pertaining to the incident and subsequent penalty.

It was an approach his team principal found admirable, especially given how difficult the immediate aftermath of a race - and the accompanying media duties - is for a driver.

"I thought he showed great maturity, to be honest with you," Horner told the BBC's The Inside Track podcast.

"Because, it's the hardest thing in the world. These guys jump out of the cars, they're full of emotion, full of adrenaline, and they get rammed a microphone under their nose.

"Again, it just showed real maturity, that it was like: 'taking a breath, and I'm not going to expose myself to criticism here', so I completely understood it."