Helmut Marko unhappy that one driver ‘got away with’ the exact same offence as Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia

Max Verstappen was on course to take his second victory of the season in Saudi Arabia, but suffered a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

The Dutchman started from pole position and had a drag race with second-placed man Oscar Piastri to the first corner, but the McLaren driver managed to emerge ahead at the apex.

Verstappen took to the escape road and stayed ahead, but the stewards would later issue a five-second time penalty for him going off track and not giving the place back to Piastri.

F1 fans felt Verstappen learnt a lesson, while Alex Brundle thought the penalty was ‘absolutely fair’ because he did not give the position back to Piastri.

Discussing the penalty situation in his latest Speedweek column, Helmut Marko pointed to other examples where he felt the penalty was unjustified.

Helmut Marko uses F2 example when arguing against Max Verstappen penalty

Usually in these circumstances, Race Control will request that the driver who gained the advantage to concede the position at the earliest possible point.

In the case of Verstappen, it was an immediate Safety Car which prevented overtaking. Even in this scenario, Red Bull was in conversation with the FIA but felt it was not necessary.

“On the radio, there was no particularly long discussion about returning the place to Piastri to avoid this punishment,” wrote Marko.

“Our strategy expert and contact man with the FIA had pointed out that we had experienced several cases in the first corner in Formula 2, which were pretty much the same as Verstappen against Piastri later. There were no penalties, but only warnings. Luke Browning even did this twice and got away with it without penalty.”

Christian Horner presents evidence to F1 media but does not appeal

After the race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner chose to present evidence to F1 media depicting Verstappen’s car ahead at the apex of Turn 1.

Horner argued that Verstappen had the right to the corner under the rules, but the stewards claimed that Piastri had already earned the right to the corner.

When asked if he would be appealing the decision, Horner shied away and instead chose to focus on the next event.

Verstappen closed the gap to Piastri in the Drivers’ standings, while Norris is also only two points away heading into the Miami round.