Max Verstappen was handed a five-second time penalty at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix after an incident with Oscar Piastri on the opening lap.
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| George Russell says Max Verstappen has no right to complain (Image: Getty Images) |
George Russell has bluntly told Max Verstappen that he has no grounds for complaint over the penalty that cost him dearly at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Verstappen, the reigning world champion, was handed a five-second penalty after an on-track clash with McLaren's Oscar Piastri.
The incident occurred on the first lap and Verstappen's penalty ultimately handed the win to Piastri in Jeddah. The stewards deemed the Dutchman's manoeuvre illegal and slapped him with a penalty for not giving back his spot to Piastri. Russell, when quizzed by journalists on whether Verstappen had any reason to feel aggrieved, responded: "No, not at all. I was quite surprised he didn't give the position back straight away, to be honest."
The stewards gave Verstappen a five-second penalty instead of a 10-second punishment because of the fact it was on the opening lap but Red Bull were still not happy. Christian Horner turned up to his post-race briefing with photographs and documents to argue why Verstappen should have escaped a penalty.
Piastri is riding high with his third triumph of the campaign, hot on the heels of his Bahrain victory. He now enjoys a 10-point advantage atop the drivers' leaderboard, with his McLaren colleague Lando Norris trailing close behind.
Verstappen, last year's victor over Norris, is currently in third place. His sole victory this season was clinched in Japan, yet he remains in contention to leapfrog to the summit of the standings with a strong performance in the upcoming Miami Grand Prix.
The FIA's statement regarding Verstappen's infraction detailed: "We determined that car 81 [Piastri] had its front axle at least alongside the mirror of car 1 [Verstappen] prior to and at the apex of corner one when trying to overtake car 1 on the inside," and added, "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 five second time penalty instead."
Verstappen didn't seem willing to discuss the incident immediately after the race. He abruptly ended his post-race interview after just one question, choosing not to delve into his feelings about the penalty.
"I'm going to keep it quite short," Verstappen stated. He expressed gratitude to his fans for their support but refrained from elaborating on his thoughts about the punishment, adding: "The rest is what it is. I'm looking forward to Miami - see you there."
Piastri, however, provided more insight into the incident after the stewards sided with him. "Once I got on the inside, I wasn't coming out of turn one in second place," he declared.
"Obviously, the stewards had to get involved, but I thought I was plenty far enough up and, in that end, that was what won me the race. So I'm very happy with all the work we've been doing at the starts."
- TOM VICTOR
