Verstappen silence over Jeddah penalty diverts attention – The roller coaster season start continued for Lando Norris in Saudi Arabia, where the penalty for his crash in the final part of qualifying was to hand the lead of the championship to this fiercest rival, team mate Oscar Piastri. Whilst Piastri was schooled on Saturday by the four times world champion in how to lay down the fastest lap, his cool, calm demeanour under pressure saw him become only the second driver to win the Grand Prix in Jeddah whilst not starting from pole position.

The high speed action along the Red Sea corniche was thrilling to watch, but the race was decided within seconds of the lights going out to signal the start of the race. With the drivers being held for what felt like a split second, Piastri reacted more quickly to the signal to start the race and held a small advantage over Verstappen as the entered the braking zone.

Verstappen veered sharply to the right hand edge of the track to create an angle from which he could attack the corner at a higher speed, but this merely served to allow the McLaren driver the space to move towards the centre of the track rather than remain pinned against the wall on the left hand side.

 

 

 

Verstappen fails to pin Piastri

There is a question over whether Max made the best of a difficult situation by giving the McLaren driver as much room as he did as he had Piastri remained pinned to the left hand edge of the circuit, his shallow line into turn 1 would surely have forced him to brake earlier than the Red Bull driver on the wider line, handing the apex of the corner back to the world champion.

And it was the stewards decision, that Piastri claimed the apex of turn one first which all importantly gave him the “right” to the corner. In Austin Texas last year, Lando Norris made a similar move around the outside of Verstappen, but failed to complete the move on track.

There the British driver had completed the overtake on the Dutch champion along the long back straight at COTA, but a last second release of the brakes saw Verstappen nose ahead of his McLaren rival on the inside and he was adjudged to have reached the apex of the corner first. Under the current sporting rules, this allowed Max to use the entire width of the track and not leave space for Norris in his McLaren.

The resulting furore in the F1 media debated these rules of engagement ad nauseam, but what was clear is the stewards are looking for the driver who claims the apex of the corner as key to their decisions on such matters, regardless of whether the car is under the full control of its pilot is in fact irrelevant.

Pirelli fail their objective in Jeddah again

 

 

 

Calculated decision to retain the position

The predictable team radio messages followed the opening skirmish in the desert. Max argued he was not given sufficient room, whilst Piastri indirectly informed the stewards he believed even had he not been in Verstappen’s way, the Red Bull driver was travelling too quickly and would have missed the turn completely.

Since 2024, the F1 race stewards standard time penalty for in race infringements is now ten seconds, yet Verstappen benefitted from the leniency they take on matters during the first lap of a Grand Prix when all hell is breaking loose. It was a simple decision for Red Bull and Verstappen to make not to avoid the incoming penalty by handing back the place, given in Jeddah clean air at the front of the field in the early stages of a GP is gold dust.

During practice the signs were that McLaren were in a league of their own when it came to long runs and tyre wear, but in the dirty air behind Verstappen, the young Aussie struggled, later admitting his tyres were toast before he pitted for new rubber.

McLaren had a slow pit stop almost 1.5 seconds slower than their regular time, which put Verstappen almost bang on 5 seconds ahead of his rival as he exited the pit lane. 

Is the Williams F1 boss telling the truth?

 

 

 

McLaren almost blew it

Verstappen almost found the five seconds he needed over Piastri and when the McLaren driver peeled off into the pits, Max was around 3.5 seconds ahead of him. Oscar’s out lap on the fresh hard tyre lap saw him fail to reduce the 23.6 second deficit to Verstappen. Yet in the final mini-sectors of the lap, it was clear the McLaren driver was finding his feet but Red Bull sent Verstappen around one more time before switching his medium tyres for new hards.

Inevitably, this was the moment the race was finally won for Piastri, as he emerged ahead of Verstappen with Lewis Hamilton between the pair adding to the world champions difficulties. Post race the questions for Max were focused on the stewards decision and the penalty he suffered, but he refused tp Gove his opinion repeatedly creating more of a fuss amongst his inquisitors.

Replay after replay was shown by the various broadcasters and the comparisons to Norris and his punishment in Austin Texas were undeniable. Yet not a single journalist publicly questioned Verstappen on his poor start and subsequent decision to give Piastri acres of space into turn one when this was the reason Verstappen failed to win his fourth consecutive Saudi Grand Prix.

It was notable Verstappen didn’t criticise the stewards as he has done previously, thus covering off the reporting angle that he is ‘petulant’ and inconsistent in his views of racing incidents. Max knew having given away the advantage of pole position, it was his error which lost his the race, but he never faced those questions as the paddock was obsessed with turn one and the subsequent decision from the stewards.

Italian press turn on Hamilton

 

 

 

Verstappen dodges the difficult questions not asked

Whilst the win was there for the world champion, the weekend looked as though it would be another McLaren 1-2 given their massive lap time advantage in qualifying. Yet with no team mate to steal points from him, Verstappen merely has to put himself in the mix each weekend and watch mistakes from the McLaren drivers and the team to give him the chance of a big haul of points.

Max lost the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix with an unusual error, yet with Norris making up just four places with overtakes and finishing fourth, the Red Bull champ closed in on the former championship leader. Piastri this weekend extended his lead over Verstappen, but in Miami to could be Norris who benefits and Piastri who loses out to Max.

McLaren are almost certainly heading for the 2025 F1 constructors’ title, but the drivers championship will be more nuanced and tricky for the team to negotiate. With two number one drivers as Zak Brown explains, it will take a coming together on track a la Rosberg and Hamilton in Spain 2016 before any potential decision on handing one or the other some preferential treatment will be considered by the team management.

Max lost in Saudi Arabia, but cleverly avoided the difficult questions he should have faced after the race. Christian Horner’s piece of paper challenging the stewards decision was another side show in the Jeddah paddock, but on the whole he and Verstappen avoided the difficult questions they should have been asked.

World media reacts: “Piastri is the leader McLaren need”

 

 

 

 

Red Bull new evidence for Verstappen penalty

Red Bull Racing continues to voice its discontent over the time penalty handed to Max Verstappen at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, claiming new evidence proves the punishment was unjustified. The team, still fuming over the decision made by the stewards during the race, have now released additional video footage which they believe supports Verstappen’s case.

Red Bull dispute Verstappen’s Jeddah penalty with new footage: ‘Max was disadvantaged’ – Although there will be no formal request for a review, the incident has reignited discussions about the clarity of F1’s racing rules, particularly when it comes to side-by-side battles in tight corners. Interestingly, the stewards had actually awarded a 10 second penalty for Verstappen, but cut the punishment in half as it was a lap 1, turn 1 incident…. READ MORE