The FIA has explained why Max Verstappen was only given a five-second time penalty for cutting the track in battle with Oscar Piastri at the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

It comes after Liam Lawson, the Racing Bulls driver, was handed a standard 10-second penalty for a similar incident with Alpine’s Jack Doohan later in the race.

Saudi Arabian GP: Max Verstappen escapes standard FIA penalty for Oscar Piastri incident

After setting an impressive pole position on Saturday in Jeddah, Verstappen retained the lead from Piastri on the opening lap of Sunday’s race after cutting the track and rejoining ahead of the McLaren.

The move saw Verstappen hit with a five-second penalty after an FIA stewards’ investigation, with the Red Bull driver serving his punishment during his only pit stop of the race.

Later in the race, Lawson was issued with a 10-second penalty for an almost identical offence at the same spot in battle with Doohan, with the Racing Bulls driver hit with a more severe punishment.

Go deeper: Understanding Red Bull driver Max Verstappen

👉 Jos Verstappen: The F1 racer turned ruthless mentor behind Max Verstappen’s supreme F1 talent

👉 Revealed: The three rules introduced by the FIA because of Max Verstappen

In the official verdict confirming Verstappen’s penalty, issued after the race, the FIA stewards confirmed that the Red Bull star was given a lesser punishment as his transgression occurred on the opening lap when drivers given more leeway.

The statement read: “The Stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry and in-car video evidence and determined that car 81 had its front axle at least alongside the mirror of Car 1 prior to and at the apex of corner 1 when trying to overtake Car 1 on the inside.

“In fact, Car 81 was alongside Car 1 at the apex.

“Based on the Driver’s Standards Guidelines, it was therefore Car 81’s corner and he was entitled to be given room.

“Car 1 then left the track and gained a lasting advantage that was not given back. He stayed in front of Car 81 and sought to build on the advantage.

“Ordinarily, the baseline penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage is 10 seconds.

“However, given that this was lap one and turn one incident, we considered that to be a mitigating circumstance and imposed a 5 second time penalty instead.”

More on Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing from PlanetF1.com

👉 Max Verstappen news

👉 Red Bull news

Verstappen refused to offer an opinion on the incident after the race, cutting his immediate post-race interview to a minimum when the issue of his first-lap incident was raised.

He said: “I’m going to keep it quite short.

“I just want to say big thank you to the fans here in Jeddah. It’s been a great weekend. I love the track and the rest is what it is.

“I’m looking forward to Miami, so we’ll see you there.”

Verstappen currently sits third in the F1 2025 standings, 12 points adrift of new World Championship leader Piastri, with his only victory of this season coming at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka earlier this month.

Read next: Lewis Hamilton expects ‘painful’ 2025 season with ‘no fix’ at Ferrari