Christian Horner argues George Russell deserved punishment after Oscar Piastri’s Silverstone penalty

Christian Horner has brought to light George Russell's Canadian GP safety car antics in regard to Oscar Piastri's British GP penalty. In the second phase of the race at Silverstone, after the safety car period, Piastri seemed to have got the race going, but suddenly, he braked (noting 59.2psi of brake pressure that slowed his McLaren down from 218kph to 52kph).

This forced Max Verstappen, who was in P2, to go past him, and for this, the former was smacked with a 10-second penalty. Similarly, Christian Horner believed that George Russell should also have been given a penalty at the Canadian GP.

During the closing stages of the 70-lap race, Russell drove erratically behind the safety car, and for this, Red Bull even filed a complaint with the FIA.

However, the governing body rejected the Austrian outfit's plea, and the Brit was allowed to keep his Grand Prix win. In line with all this and the Piastri incident, Horner said the following at Silverstone post the British GP, via Autosport:

"I wasn’t surprised to see him get a penalty. That was what you would expect. It was probably more surprising that George didn't get one in Montreal, to be honest with you. But yeah, that's it. Unfortunately, our race unfolded from that point."

Max Verstappen did not have the best of outings in the 2025 British GP. Amid all the chaos that ensued in the 52-lap race, Verstappen slipped backward under wet conditions and eventually ended his outing with a fifth-place finish.

George Russell expected a 'six-way fight' in Silverstone

Just like Max Verstappen, George Russell also had a tough time in the 2025 British Grand Prix. He started the race from fifth place on the grid but slipped backward amid a sea of various strategies being used by the teams.

Outfits like Sauber and Aston Martin were able to nail their strategies that propelled Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll to come away with a P3 and P7 finish. However, for Russell, things didn't go so well, as he ultimately ended his outing with a disappointing P10 finish.

Ahead of the race, immediately after the end of Saturday's qualifying, Russell said that he was expecting a six-way fight for the Grand Prix win, via F1:

"Obviously the conditions are favorable, but it’s taken us from being off the pace to sort of being there or thereabouts – it hasn’t sort of propelled us to the front. I think it’s probably fair to say that we overachieved a little bit today, especially in terms of the gaps, we definitely overachieved. Ferrari obviously struggled on that last lap. Tomorrow’s probably going to be a six-way fight."

Next up on the 2025 Formula 1 season race calendar is the Belgium Grand Prix, slated to take place at the picturesque Spa-Francorchamps racing circuit. George Russell will look to bounce back after the disappointment at Silverstone.