Verstappen was slapped with a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage at the first corner of the race.
He’d entered the turn wheel-to-wheel with Oscar Piastri, the McLaren driver having jumped well from second to draw alongside and take the apex of the left-hander.
Verstappen attempted to hang on around the outside before bailing out as the road swung back to the right, and Piastri moved to take the racing line.
In going so, the four-time world champion retained the lead by cutting across the inside of Turn 2.
“I thought it was very harsh,” Horner said.
“We didn’t concede the position because we didn’t believe he’d done anything wrong.
“You can quite clearly see at the apex of the corner, we believe that Max is clearly ahead.
“It was a very harsh decision.”
Speaking with the media in the wake of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Horner armed himself with a image taken from Verstappen’s onboard camera.
It showed the Dutchman’s front wheels ahead of Piastri’s as they negotiated the first left-hander.
“When you look at that, I can’t see how they got to that conclusion,” Horner argued.
“They’ve both gone in at the same speed.
“Oscar ran deep into the corner; Max can’t just disappear at this point in time.
“Perhaps these rules need a re-look at. I don’t know what’s happened to ‘let them race’ on the first lap.
“That seems to have been abandoned.”
Racer turned commentator Martin Brundle offered a different view during the race, suggesting Verstappen had moved to game the system.
It’s a view he stood by when quizzed about the incident after the 50-lap encounter.
“I call these things live in commentary, as I see it, and I haven’t changed my mind on that,” he told Sky Sports.
“Oscar got into the first corner, got into the first apex – and I have read the rules for 2025 – and he had that corner.
“But if your rival wants to come off the brakes and if you look there’s not a whole lot of steering lock going on…
“Max didn’t really try to go around the outside,” he added.
“He’d lost that corner and he should have tucked back in.
“I think the team should have handed the place straight back.
“It was obvious he was going to take a penalty for that.
“Then I think they might have had a chance to win the race.”
Instead, Verstappen remained ahead of Piastri, holding a small advantage throughout the opening stint.
He then served his five-second penalty at his pit stop, handing the lead and eventual win to Piastri.
“If we had given it up, you’re obviously running in the dirty air as well, we’d have dropped back behind and could have been at risk with George [Russell],” Horner said.
“The best thing to do was, at the point we’ve got the penalty, get your head down, keep going.
“What was a great shame today was that you can see our pace versus certainly the McLarens and all other cars in that first stint on the medium, we were in good shape.
“We had to serve the five-second penalty and, thereafter, on the same basic stint as Oscar, he finished, what, 2.6 seconds behind.
“So, without that penalty today, it would have been a win.
“But there’s always going to be a difference of opinion over a very marginal decision like that.”
Horner dismissed suggestions the penalty was a case of Verstappen being victimised by officials.
He also played down suggestions Red Bull might seek to exercise its right of review over the incident.
“Everything has to be objectively looked at in isolation, and that’s a really marginal call,” he said.
“I think the stewards, obviously… we spoke to them after the race, they think it was a slam dunk. So the problem is, if we’re to protest it, then they’re going to most likely hold the line.
“We’ll ask them to have a look at the onboard footage that wasn’t available at the time, but, yeah, I think that’s what it is.”
Following his stop, and the five-second delay served as part of it, Verstappen spent much of the second half of the race more than four seconds adrift of race leader Piastri.
That margin closed in the final laps as the McLaren driver encountered traffic, though he offered a glimpse of the pace he had if needed by setting his personal fastest lap of the race on the final tour.
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