Christian Horner, Red Bull's team boss, has warned that drivers could be encouraged to follow the rules in order to penalize their rivals with in-race penalties such as those at the Austrian Grand Prix to Lando norris and Sergio Perez.Three in-race penalties were imposed for incidents that occurred during Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix. Two for Yuki Tsunoda crossing a white line on pit entry. One post-race penalty was imposed for a collision between Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen on the final lap.The most controversial in-race penalty saw Norris being penalized five seconds for not leaving a car's width at Turn 4. Perez then defended Perez's position following a Safety Car restart. Perez was also penalized for similar defensive moves against Charles Leclerc, but Perez made contact with Leclerc at Turn 4 while Perez was defending position at Turn 6.Although Norris' driver was the one who lost, Horner felt it was a racing incident that should not have led to a penalty.He said that the incident with Checo Lando and Lando was racing. "If you turn the outside, you run the risk, especially if you're not ahead [going into the corner]."But I believe the FIA, having given that penalty, then couldn’t not give a penalty for a very comparable move with Charles [and Perez] later in the race.""These guys race in karting from their childhood and it's a sport they love."So, I believe the penalties were a bit harsh and it slightly goes against the 'let's them race' mantra that we have been advocating in recent years."Lando Norris was penalized for pushing Sergio Perez wide through Austria on lap four. Clive Mason – Formula 1 via Getty ImagesHorner was asked if there was a precedent for drivers to position themselves on the exterior of other cars, knowing that it would likely result in a penalty for the rival. Horner replied: "You don’t want the equivalent footballers taking a dive. We need to avoid that."But it's extremely difficult and we discuss these things often." Although it's difficult for Michael Masi, the race director, I think today's incidents could have resulted in more racing incidents than just being penalized.Horner stated that the penalty would be discussed at the next meeting of Masi, team managers, and drivers before the British Grand Prix."I believe it will be discussed in the relevant forum with Michael, the drivers, and the team managers. They will talk about this at length, I'm certain. They discuss incidents from the previous race so I am sure they will at Silverstone.
