Christian Horner's FIA demand amid Max Verstappen furore with F1 in 'dangerous territory'

Christian Horner claimed Formula 1 is in "dangerous territory" as he warned the penalties handed to Max Verstappen could lead to a "mess" as the season races towards its climax.

The Dutchman picked up 20 seconds' worth of penalties at the Mexican Grand Prix as the stewards took a dim view of the way he defended against title rival Lando Norris. It came a week after Verstappen escaped punishment for a similar move where he pushed Norris off the track in Austin.

Horner claimed his star man's penalties were harsh and disputed the first, given for forcing the McLaren off track at turn four. And the Red Bull chief accused Norris of a "divebomb" move, bringing with him to a media session charts which he claimed proved the Brit had braked later than usual to get by.

"We are going to get into very dangerous territory of, at what point is a divebomb going to be okay?" Horner said. " The FIA and the drivers need to sit down and decide what is acceptable and what is not. I thought two 10-second penalties was a bit on the hard side."

Norris finished second and is now 47 points behind the defending champion, while Verstappen could manage only sixth place after serving his penalty. Horner expressed concern about what the final four Grand Prix weekends may hold with the keen trying everything to reel in his rival and Verstappen refusing to alter his driving style.

He said: "It used to be a reward of the bravest to go round the outside. We are in danger of flipping the overtaking laws upside down where drivers will just try to get their nose ahead at the apex and then claim that they have to be given room on the exit.

"They need to get back to basics - if you are on the outside, you will not have priority. Otherwise, we will end up with a mess over these next four races. I think it is really important that the stewards, together with the drivers, agree something that is sensible rather than what we are getting."

Max Verstappen's driving style has come under further scrutiny
(Image: Getty Images)

Verstappen refused several times to directly answer questions about his aggressive defending, or the penalties he was given. And he moaned that he would not have to defend in the first place if his car was quicker.

He lamented: "Twenty seconds is a lot, but I am not going to cry about it and I am also not going to share my opinion. I just drive how I think I have to drive. Last week it was alright - this week, 20 seconds penalty.

"The biggest problem I had is that it was a bad day in terms of race pace. We just had no pace, just struggling a lot on the tyres. I could not really attack and I could not follow Ferrari and McLaren."