McLaren CEO Zak Brown and Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner have each given their take on the five-second time penalty handed to Max Verstappen during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with the two parties taking contrasting views on the punishment.
After surging to pole position in Saturday’s Qualifying, Verstappen initially held the lead off the line when Sunday’s race got underway. However, Oscar Piastri also launched well from P2, resulting in the pair going wheel-to-wheel before Verstappen took to the run-off at the first corner.
READ MORE: Piastri clinches victory in Saudi Arabia from Verstappen and Leclerc as McLaren driver becomes new championship leader
While the Dutchman continued to lead from there, the stewards investigated the incident and ultimately decided to give Verstappen a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
A document released on the decision stated that the stewards “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 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.”
While the baseline sanction for such an incident is a 10-second penalty, the stewards considered the fact that it took place in Turn 1 on Lap 1 as mitigating circumstances and instead imposed a five-second penalty.
READ MORE: Piastri believes blistering start ‘won us the race’ as McLaren man overcomes penalty-hit Verstappen to take Jeddah victory
Speaking to F1 TV after the race, Brown argued that the penalty was “appropriate”, with the CEO explaining: “Oscar’s a tough guy and if he had a chance to go for the lead – frankly it wasn’t any sort of divebomb, he clearly had the lead. He was up alongside, he got a better start.
“I think the penalty was appropriate – whether we should have just swapped [positions] versus the time [being given], that’s up to the stewards to decide what they feel is appropriate. It was a clean start, he controlled the race once he got in the lead, but Max kept us honest.”
Pushed on whether he was surprised by the pace of Red Bull – with Verstappen crossing the line only 2.8s behind race winner Piastri in second – Brown responded: “We weren’t.
“I think everyone else is trying to apply a little bit of pressure, saying we’re far up the road to set us up for ‘if you don’t win, what went wrong?’, so we’re not kind of falling for that. We know how close it is.
“It’s clear any of these top four teams are a front wing or a floor away from an upgrade to go, ‘those are the ones we now need to chase’. I do think the warmer weather plays to our strengths a bit, so I think that’s why we were maybe a bit quicker in the day in Saudi and Bahrain. I hope that theory is right because I think it’s going to be hot in Miami.”
Horner, meanwhile, stated his view that Verstappen had nowhere to go during the battle with Piastri when speaking to Sky Sports F1.
READ MORE: ‘It is what it is’ – Verstappen concedes tussle with Piastri ‘potentially’ cost him victory as he hails 'good pace' shown in Jeddah
Asked if there had been any conversation around giving the place back – or whether the focus was more on breaking out of the five-second window – Horner answered: “We had that sort of discussion with the Race Director before the race through briefings and whatever else.
“We have this notion of ‘let them race’ – I don’t know where Max was supposed to go at that first corner. We’ve lost the race by [2.8] seconds so, yeah, it’s tough. I think the most positive thing for us today was the pace was there – it was a very positive race. Congrats to Oscar, but [it’s] disappointing not to get the win.”
Horner went on to reflect on the squad’s race pace in the first stint, adding: “We pulled a gap. Let’s not forget, on Friday, McLaren had 1.2s on everybody.
“Max was feeling comfortable out there. He was pulling out the gap, we were trying to get the gap at the pit stop even with the penalty but it wasn’t to be. [We got] good points, important points today. We’re only 12 points off the lead of the championship, we’ve taken a few points out of Lando [Norris] so, yeah, everything to play for.”
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