Christian Horner admits FIA 'mistake' gave Max Verstappen title as Red Bull surprised

Christian Horner has claimed the FIA ​​made a 'mistake' with the points system after Max Verstappen won his second world championship. There was confusion over whether Verstappen got the crown after Charles Leclerc received a five-second post-race penalty.

Horner said the team believed full points would not be awarded because the Grand Prix had not gone the full distance. He said: "I think it was an error that was not included after the problems at Spa last year, that the settlement was not simulated.

"Because we had a strong feeling that only 75% of the race points would be scored. So we thought we would be one point short, but in the end Checo's decision on Charles allowed Max to win the race. championship. .

“You could see his surprise, the surprise of the team. A wonderful surprise. seemed to believe it.

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He conceded to Sergio Perez in the recovery room that he didn't win the crown until he was corrected by a race official. Verstappen commented: "During the race I had no idea what they were going to decide with the points.

"The plan was to win the race, but once I crossed the line, I didn't know if it was full points, half points or 75% points because you read the rules Tom [Wood, FIA media delegate] came up to me and said I was world champion. Then suddenly people were like, 'No, you still need a point.' it was a bit weird but in the end we had enough points so we were world champions again."

The FIA ​​later clarified that the reduced points rules would only apply if the race is suspended and not restarted.

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However, as there was a race in Japan, full points were awarded, giving Verstappen the points he needed. Ted Kravitz revealed Red Bull's Jonathan Wheatley stayed on the pit wall to read the regulations to be certain of the final outcome.

He explained: "There was an incredible scene on that Red Bull pit wall. While all the engineers and mechanics were running down the pit lane, Max Verstappen's own team manager, Jonathan Wheatley, was reading the rules to verify the interpretation that Formula 1 had made that made Max Verstappen the world champion."