Christian Horner agreed to take part in the meeting to serve the penalty he received for his controversial comments to the media following his driver Max Verstappen’s penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix last November.
Verstappen was handed a five-place grid penalty and two superlicence penalty points for failing to respect double yellow flags in qualifying after Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri stopped right on the Qatar circuit’s main straight.
Speaking to Sky F1 and in a moment of considerable frustration, Horner blamed a “rogue steward” after considering that he had incorrectly activated a double yellow flag that created all the controversy.
Those comments were widely reported and the FIA took the matter very seriously, which is why Horner was called to testify before the stewards on race day.
The International Sporting Code specifies that “any word, deed or writing that has caused moral damage or harm to the FIA, its organs, its members or its directors, and more generally to the interest of motor sport and the values defended by the FIA FIA” represents a violation of the rules.
Horner ended up receiving an official warning, while the stewards noted that the Red Bull manager had “explained that his reaction came under the stress of the moment due to the penalty imposed on the driver of car 33”.
“The stewards explained that the stewards in question was doing his job precisely in the manner prescribed by the International Sporting Code. Mr. Horner offered to apologize to him and explain to the media that his comments were not intended to offend him,” it added. the notice.
“He has also offered to take part in the 2022 FIA International Stewards Program at the beginning of February. The stewards accept Mr Horner’s offer without reservation.”
This weekend’s two-day program featured virtual stewards from around the world from many motorsport disciplines, and was designed as a training course to help them do their jobs more effectively. . Those present included F1 stewards Garry Connelly and Tim Mayer .
In a question and answer session, Horner discussed his role as Red Bull Racing team principal and his team’s relationship with the FIA.
He also took part in a meeting held by the competitors themselves to discuss the stewards, chaired by F1 race director Michael Masi . The conversation also featured Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, former Formula E champion Antonio Felix da Costa, Toyota’s WRC boss Jari-Matti Latvala and Ford driver Adrien Fourmaux.
The two-day program was preceded last week by a first meeting for race directors with Masi , Formula E’s Scot Elkins and the new FIA Vice President Robert Reid among those in attendance.
