Gian Carlo Minardi tells Max Verstappen the Saudi Arabian GP penalty he really deserved for Oscar Piastri incident

Gian Carlo Minardi thinks Max Verstappen got off very lightly after the Red Bull driver got a five-second penalty for his Saudi Arabian Grand Prix incident with Oscar Piastri.

The four-time defending champion astounded Minardi on Saturday when Verstappen scored pole position for the Saudi Arabian GP ahead of Piastri by just 0.010 seconds. Yet their tussle to win in Jeddah come Sunday was essentially decided at the first corner of the very first lap.

McLaren driver Piastri had a superb launch off the line to draw level and even edge ahead of Verstappen before Turn 1. But the Red Bull ace refused to accept he had lost the position, so got off the brakes to try to win the apex yet Verstappen was never going to stay on the track.

Verstappen could have pulled in behind Piastri with his lead over George Russell and Charles Leclerc. Yet he shortcutted the Turn 1-2 run off to retain the lead and even tried to pull away, so Verstappen earned a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Max Verstappen deserved a drive-through over five-second penalty in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The stewards confirmed after the Saudi Arabian GP that Verstappen did not get a 10-second penalty like Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson received as they took into account that it was a first-lap, first-corner incident. But Minardi feels they did not consider the advantage he took.

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Minardi has written on his website that the former F1 team owner thinks Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP penalty for illegally staying in front of Piastri ought to have actually been a drive-through penalty. By him staying ahead out of T2, Verstappen made Piastri run in his dirty air.

Minardi said: “Always present is Verstappen, the author of an extraordinary pole position after the difficult weekend in Bahrain. However, I do not agree with the penalty.

“I believe that five [seconds] are too few considering the advantage obtained by his action and also because they came at the start of the race.

“He had plenty of time to recover – crossing the finish line in second place, little more than two [seconds] from the Australian. A drive-through would have been more consistent.”

Christian Horner showed in Jeddah how Red Bull refuse to hold Max Verstappen to a higher standard

Verstappen has tried for years to effectively play the system by winning the apex to claim he deserves space on the exit, like was the case in his Saudi Arabian GP incident with Piastri. He has also gone the other way and run his rivals off the road when defending down the inside.

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But Piastri gave Verstappen a taste of his own medicine in Saudi Arabia and the stewards felt the Dutchman’s attempt to then build a lead prior to a safety car for Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly’s collision merited punishing. Yet Red Bull should take a different lesson from the saga.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner used pictures to defend Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP penalty with a still photo from his onboard camera. It did not reflect the true situation as it failed to show Verstappen was never going to make Turn 2 with the speed he carried into T1.

While it could be argued that Horner was just doing his job by trying to protect his driver, he also showed how Red Bull refuse to hold Verstappen to a better standard and – if anything – condone his behaviour to try to rig the system rather than improve in wheel-to-wheel fights.