Christian Horner insisted his Red Bull team did not break Formula 1 rules at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix despite Ted Kravitz suggesting that they had.
Sergio Perez won the Baku race with Max Verstappen behind him in second place. But there were some suggestions of wrongdoing from the team as they rushed across the pit lane to celebrate as the Mexican came flying past.
Mechanics and other garage staff celebrated on the pit wall to mark Perez's victory. But a new rule reads: "It is forbidden for personnel to climb on pit wall debris fences at any time. Any action by a team breaching this ban will be reported to the stewards."
Speaking on Sky Sports, pit lane reporter Kravitz reported that Red Bull personnel were in the pit lane and telling viewers that what they were doing was against the rules. Commentator David Croft concurred with that assessment.
But, when questioned by Sky after the race, Horner was adamant that his team had followed the law. He said: "The regulations I think are quite clear and it was something the team manager discussed with the mechanics before the race. All of them had their feet in contact with the concrete wall. I think you'll find they were where they should be."
While the Red Bull personnel did not cause danger, the same could not be said for the photographers who had meandered into the pit lane. Esteban Ocon was still yet to pit and, as he came in ahead of the final lap, several of those people had to leap out of the way of the car.
Fortunately, they all managed to do so and no-one was hurt. But it was still a very scary incident which was slammed by both Kravitz and Croft as an organisational "shambles".
Shortly after the race, the FIA representative responsible for parc ferme was summoned to see the stewards to explain the safety breach. Mirror Sport contacted F1 for comment, and a spokesperson said it would not be commenting as the FIA was responsible for the parc ferme procedure.
"That's something that needs a review because Esteban is within his rights to pit on the last lap and finish the race in the pit lane if he wanted to," said Horner of that incident. "That's something that the FIA needs to police a little better at the end of a race."
