Max Verstappen was denied the chance of taking a second victory in 2025 when he was handed a five-second time penalty during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman was given the time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in a first-corner battle with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who went on to win the race.
Verstappen took to the escape road on the exit of the second corner, having drawn alongside Piastri’s McLaren heading through the corner.
An early Safety Car was brought out for a crash between Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, preventing them from swapping positions. This resulted in a five-second time penalty being issued to Verstappen, who served it during his pit stop.
The Red Bull pit wall felt they did not deserve the penalty, but Alex Brundle has explained why he thinks it was a fair outcome when speaking on the F1 TV post-race show.
Alex Brundle brands Max Verstappen Saudi Arabian GP penalty ‘fair’
Christian Horner felt Verstappen was far enough alongside Piastri to warrant space; therefore, he didn’t gain an advantage as he wasn’t offered any space.
Brundle highlights part of the guidelines issued to teams, which dictate what the stewards are looking for when they are issuing penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
“This, for me, is an absolutely fair penalty. With regards to the five-second penalty for Verstappen, they’re wheel-to-wheel going into Turn 1, and the guidelines actually say front wheel against cockpit is ok, which Piastri had. So he’s got the best start there and he deserved to lead through the first section of the race,” said Brundle.
“Red Bull saw it differently; they clearly felt it was Verstappen’s corner and have stayed true to that belief, and not reversed the positions.”
FIA Stewards let Max Verstappen off with lighter punishment
The FIA Stewards usually hand drivers a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, but in this case, they applied mitigating circumstances.
This being that it happened at the first corner on the first lap of the race, so rather than apply the standard tariff, the stewards reduced it to five seconds.
Verstappen himself lauded Piastri for his commitment in the battle for the lead, although he stopped short of discussing the penalty with media after the race.
Damon Hill felt that Verstappen overstepped the mark with the move, although he felt others might disagree with his viewpoint.
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