Horner says Norris didn’t deserve F1 penalty for incident with Perez

Perez was forced wide onto the gravel at Turn 4 as he and Norris battled over second place following an early Safety Car restart in Sunday’s race, with the Red Bull driver dropping down to 10th place.

Norris was handed a five-second time penalty for the incident but was left baffled by the decision, which Horner also felt was simply “hard racing”.

“I think I said in the commentary that I didn't have a major problem with the Lando move,” Horner told Sky F1.

“It was racing. It was hard racing. It was wheel-to-wheel, so then to get a penalty for that, I guess they gave themselves no choice when he had the same with Charles.

“But that's racing. Otherwise, you're going to get drivers just chucking themselves off the circuit and claiming penalties, so it's a bit disappointing. For me, that's hard racing.”

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl also disagreed with the penalty, adding: “It is at the beginning of the race and, in Michael Masi’s words, he would say you learn in karting already that if you go there you will end up in the gravel.

“I think with the cars being side by side, I don’t think that is a penalty. But it is what it is, let’s focus on the positives. It was sensational race and weekend from the team and Lando, and a sensational recovery from Daniel [Ricciardo]. I want to say a big thanks to everyone here at the track and at home.”

Perez later picked up two five-second time penalties for separate incidents with Charles Leclerc, having forced the Ferrari driver onto the gravel at Turn 4 and again at Turn 6 later in the race.