Red Bull has firmly decided against contesting Max Verstappen's contentious 5-second penalty from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, opting not to pursue a 'right of review' despite initial and ongoing objections.
The team had 96 hours to lodge a formal challenge, but team principal Christian Horner, advisor Dr Helmut Marko, and Verstappen himself signalled at Jeddah that a protest was improbable.
According to De Telegraaf, Red Bull, while disagreeing with the penalty imposed for Verstappen's first-corner incident with McLaren's Oscar Piastri, has chosen to move forward. The penalty, which saw Verstappen finish less than 5 seconds behind race winner Piastri, arguably cost him the victory.
Horner had presented printed telemetry and onboard camera screenshots during his post-race media session with the written press, a move witnessed by former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos, who was with Horner, Marko, and Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen after the race.
"They were working on it right away," Doornbos told Ziggo Sport. "Horner said to someone 'Print out those papers for me, because I'm going to make it difficult for them at the FIA'."
However, former Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone argued that Red Bull's own actions led to the penalty.
"It could have all been avoided," the 94-year-old told Blick newspaper. "Why didn't Max give the position back immediately? Because making up 5 seconds is usually difficult under normal conditions."
Horner defended the decision not to instruct Verstappen to yield to Piastri, stating, "Because we didn't think Max had done anything wrong."
Marko, speaking to ORF, revealed, "We discussed giving back the position, but then the penalty was imposed."
But in his latest Speed Week column, the 81-year-old elaborated, "There wasn't much discussion about giving the position back. Our strategy expert and FIA contact said they'd seen several similar incidents in Formula 2 with no penalties—only warnings. Luke Browning did it twice and got away without a penalty."
Some speculate that the departure of sporting director Jonathan Wheatley to Audi-owned Sauber has weakened Red Bull's strategic decision-making.
Wheatley himself admitted post-race, "I would have done something differently, or advised to do it differently."
Another theory suggests Red Bull privately acknowledged Verstappen's culpability but publicly supported their driver. "I think you're a very good team boss if you always defend your driver," Doornbos affirmed.
Doornbos also noted a post-race confrontation, stating, "Too much has been said about it. We also saw images of the FIA president (Mohammed Ben Sulayem) pointing the finger at Max after the race. It's not the best look for the sport, but fortunately the championship fight is at least good."
Auto Motor und Sport editor Michael Schmidt argued that Verstappen exacerbated the situation by accelerating after going off-track.
"I think it played a role that he accelerated to shake off Piastri before the DRS zone," Schmidt said. "It would have been smarter to briefly take his foot off the gas, to show that he wanted to make a concession. So you have to admit that the penalty was justified."
Looking ahead, Red Bull is focusing on a significant car upgrade to bolster Verstappen's championship bid. "We are taking small steps and I think we will have enough speed by Imola to beat McLaren," Marko said.
"We don't think about the gap in the championship. It won't be easy, but we have recovered from a bigger gap. I still remember how with (Sebastian) Vettel we were more than 40 points behind but still won the championship."
