Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he would have been bemused to see any punishment given to either Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez in Monaco.
Perez won the race ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and team-mate Max Verstappen after the Scuderia had made a mess of Charles Leclerc’s strategy, and as Verstappen came out of the pits ahead of the Monegasque, he appeared to get very close indeed to the yellow line in the it exit.
His wheel seemed to be on the line rather than over the line, but race director Niels Wittich had written in his notes that the drivers were to stay “to the right” of the line, so Ferrari referred the matter to the stewards.
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Team principal Mattia Binotto insisted that it was less a protest, and more a request for the rules to be cleared up.
“I think it was not close, he was on the line. If you look at the international sporting code, it’s the wording,” the Italian told Sky Sports.
“It says crossing, but then we had a clarification in 30.20.20 [of the International Sporting code] to avoid any discussions. And if you look at the race driver note, it’s indicated staying to the right.
“So being on the on the line is breaching the race director notes.
“And I think that each single team has the duty and the task to follow the race directors now so for us, that’s something unclear we are still seeking for clarification to the FIA, and we’re happy to have it as soon as possible.”
The International Sporting Code takes precedence over the race director’s notes, and it speaks of a necessity for the drivers not to “cross” the pit exit line, rather than keep to the right of it.
Neither Verstappen nor Perez had any wheels on the left of the line, and being on the line counts as being inside the pit exit, so the appeal was denied.
Horner said after the race that he wanted “common sense” to “prevail” while the stewards were reviewing the incident.
“It’s disappointing that it’s been protested,” he told Sky Sports.
“Hopefully… we believe the ISC, the International Sporting Code, is clear, he didn’t go over the line, he was always in contact with the line.
“We’ve seen other precedents set with other drivers in the past, if it was any more than even a reprimand, I’d be hugely disappointed in that.
“I really hope that common sense will prevail.”
The 48-year-old is elated for Perez, who took the third win of his Formula 1 career on Sunday.
“I’m so happy for Checo, it’s a wonderful result for him,” added Horner.
“He drove brilliantly not just today, but all weekend and his out lap on the Inters was what really nailed this race for him.
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“I think that I understand the protest against him, because he was also protested, has been withdrawn but let’s see.”
The Mexican’s victory was Red Bull’s sixth in the Principality, with their first coming by way of Mark Webber in 2010.