Horner responds to Stella on Verstappen: “Tough drivers are like that, he should know that since he worked with Schumacher” | FormulaPassion.it

Team principal defends his driver

“We don’t want another 2021”. So said the McLaren team principal Andrea Star at the end of the Austrian GP he stressed that F1 must not miss the opportunity to slow down or regulate more strictly maneuvers that he believes should be sanctioned more firmly. According to Stella, in 2021 some maneuvers by Max Verstappen were not sanctioned adequately and so the Dutchman has not changed his way of driving when he finds himself not making any concessions in close duels with rivals.

Christian HornerRed Bull team principal Verstappen has defended his driver, stressing that in 2021 Verstappen was penalised on a par with Lewis Hamilton when the two went beyond the rules in what was a brutal duel. “Verstappen has fought hard in 2021, in the last two years it hasn’t been necessary because he won with a big advantage, lately the rivalry with Lando Norris is growing because the two have found themselves dueling wheel to wheel for several races in a row – Horner’s words to the microphones of Sky Sports UK – at a certain point it was natural that something would happen between the two and this something happened in Austria in Turn 3. I don’t think it’s right that Verstappen is labeled like this by Andrea Stella, but it must also be taken into consideration that in the heat of the moment one can make statements. In 2021 Verstappen was sanctioned when he did something wrong and the same happened to Lewis Hamilton”.

Horner stressed that Andrea Stella should be familiar with tough drivers like Verstappen as he worked alongside Michael Schumacher at Ferrari: “Tough drivers are like that, Andrea Stella should know this much better than many others since he worked with Schumacher“.