Max Verstappen was found to be in breach of the VSC rules in the sprint at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Christian Horner has shared his view of Max Verstappen’s five-second time penalty for a virtual safety car infringement during the São Paulo Grand Prix.

The Red Bull team principal admitted that “the data is the data”, which showed the Dutchman undercut the minimum VSC lap time delta by just over six-tenths of a second as he closed up to the back of Oscar Piastri.

When the VSC period ended, the Australian was able to hold off the three-time drivers’ champion to secure a McLaren one-two. Piastri had let Norris by for victory just before the reduced lap-time intervention.

When Verstappen’s penalty was applied, he was dropped behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and into fourth. His lead in the drivers’ championship standings is now 44 points as opposed to 45 at the chequered flag.

“Look, it’s one of those things,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 when reviewing the incident. “The data is the data.”

“And even though Max brakes before they started [resumed] racing, unfortunately, that’s it. So that’s why we got the penalty.”