Why Verstappen was so (rightfully) angry about the time penalty in Jeddah

Max Verstappen was furious but restrained himself. By saying hardly anything about the five-second time penalty due to the incident with Oscar Piastri at the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (which cost Verstappen the victory), he also said more than enough.

To the average outsider, it might have been an incomprehensible reaction, because certainly the British analysts thought the penalty for Verstappen was completely justified. According to Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner, the attending stewards also reported that it was a ‘slam dunk’. However, they clearly overlooked the events before the Grand Prix.

Before that, Verstappen and the people from Red Bull got together to discuss the tactics. It was also discussed how to handle a potential incident in the first, tight corner on the Jeddah street circuit. To leave no doubt about it, contact was made with the FIA to get final clarity on what was allowed and what was not.

Mixed signals from the FIA

According to Red Bull, the message was clear: no penalty would be imposed for incidents in the first corner, just as had happened during the Formula 2 races earlier in the weekend.

After that meeting with the motorsport federation, Verstappen was convinced that the way he engaged with Piastri in the opening corner was the right one and therefore no sanction should be imposed. This was also the reason Red Bull decided not to give back the position to Piastri in that first phase of the race.

Yet, the stewards decided to impose a five-second time penalty on Verstappen. That was a remarkable call, in several ways. First, it was not at all a ‘slam dunk’. It was a matter of centimeters, to see which of the drivers had the apex. The television images distort, as it turned out from footage that Horner showed afterwards during his meeting with international media - including GPblog.

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Moreover, Piastri did what Verstappen was always accused of a year ago: driving him off the track. The Australian from McLaren made no effort to give his rival even a bit of room.

It wasn’t a car's length that Verstappen was behind Piastri; it was really close, and if the sensible Dutchman hadn't taken the outside route, there would have been a major crash. Would then Verstappen or Piastri have been blamed? Had Verstappen braked hard, undoubtedly a chain reaction would have started, with multiple drivers crashing into each other.

As mentioned, it was an incident in the absolute opening phase. Unlike in F2, now there was a penalty, but not the usual ten seconds time penalty. Considering it was an incident in the first tour, even the first corner where a bit more can and may happen.

But if the stewards then invent a ‘new’ rule, why not opt for the option of instructing Verstappen to give up the position and let Piastri overtake? By opting for a time penalty, they essentially decided to turn a potentially exciting Grand Prix upside down and hand it over to McLaren.

Given the power differences during the race, where Verstappen could at least match the pace of the McLaren, it could have been a very exciting Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. At least, if the stewards hadn’t surprised everyone at Red Bull with their decision…