Red Bull Contentpool

F1 News

Christian Horner on Sergio Perez's board radio after Abu Dhabi

Horner on team radios: 'Pity everything is broadcast'

2 December 2023 at 10:45
  • GPblog.com

At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Sergio Perez missed out on a podium due to a five-second penalty after contact with Lando Norris. On team radio afterwards, Perez was frustrated afterwards. Team boss Christian Horner understands this and doesn't like that everything the drivers say is broadcast.

Christian Horner told GPblog.com and others that Perez expressed his frustration after the race. The only problem is that with F1 drivers, it is all broadcast. "If you're a football player and you have a rant, you haven't got a microphone on your shirt. Whereas you can understand his frustration that he's lost a podium, he's driven a great race, so he's had a vent. But unfortunately, that vent has been broadcast."

Asked if he thinks the FIA is being hypersensitive at the moment, he said: "You have to take into account that that is a racing driver who has just had a podium taken off him. The driver steward, that is here this weekend, is well known to have had a few rants in his day as well when he used to drive for me many years ago. So it happens. He was just fortunate that it wasn't broadcast," the Brit said.

Room for improvement at the FIA

Horner says it is important for the FIA and F1 to work in harmony. There is still room for improvement here: "I think, for the FIA, like any business or any team, there's always things you can learn from. There's always room for improvement. Everything evolves."