Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Portugal — Photo: © LAT Images

Portuguese Grand Prix

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Horner slates "contentious" track limit "inconsistencies" after Verstappen stripped of point

Verstappen was stripped of fastest lap bonus point after exceeding track limits at turn 14

Ewan Gale

Sunday 2 May 2021 18:50

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner again protested against the way track limits are being governed in F1 after drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez again fell foul of their application at Portimão.

Verstappen, who finished second to Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton at the Portuguese Grand Prix, pitted with two laps remaining to launch an attempt for the fastest lap bonus point.

Despite setting that best time, Verstappen was denied the point after running wide at turn 14 on the final lap, exceeding the track boundaries and triggering a deletion.

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"Track limits are a point of contention and the consistency of their application," Horner told Sky Sports F1.

"This championship will come down to the marginals and it is still at an early stage.

"We saw Lewis make a howler of a mistake [at Imola] but he got away with it. These things happen but Max is driving the wheels off the car and it is super, super tight between them."

Sergio Perez's race was hampered after he fell behind McLaren's Lando Norris when the British driver ran wide at turn four without the FIA ordering the positions to be switched, the opposite scenario to Verstappen and Hamilton in Bahrain.

Horner added: "[Perez] got overtaken by a car over the track limits so that is what I am saying, we get a document from the FIA, it changes from one day to the next and the application of these are frustrating so Sergio was super frustrated by that."

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