F1 pundit pinpoints Max Verstappen error that led to penalty

Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok has explained why Max Verstappen deserved the penalty he was given at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Verstappen was handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during a first-corner fight with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Piastri got a better launch than polesitter Verstappen and edged ahead into Turn 1, only for the Red Bull driver to retain track position by taking to the run-off.

Verstappen would drop behind Piastri after serving his penalty during his pit stop but was left annoyed at the stewards decision.

However, ex-F1 driver Chandhok feels the four-time world champion would have been better off simply conceding the start to Piastri.

“The start from Oscar Piastri was brilliant,” Chandhok said as he analysed the incident at the SkyPad.

“The launch was fantastic, especially if you consider he was on the dirty part of the track.

“When you look at the cars behind him, you’ve got Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on the dirty side, they lost ground to the cars on the clean side of the track.

“Oscar is the one who has still made a fantastic getaway. That launch has got him slightly ahead of Verstappen.

“Vertappen at this point has recognised ‘ok, Oscar is here, I’ve got to do something different’.

“So Verstappen’s now thinking ‘I’m going to go wide and get the slingshot’. He’s gone for the wide line to try and get the slingshot around the outside.

“Piastri is there, he’s won that corner because of the launch and earned the right to lead that corner.

“Max then does which pretty much we all expected, frankly, before the start of the race, which is cut across.

“At this point I think Max needed to bail out and then either accept he’ll stay in second place and hang on around the outside maybe to try and protect himself from George [Russell].

“But he’s cut the corner and gained a lasting advantage, which is what the stewards deemed that.”

How did it compare to 2024 United States GP?

A similar incident occurred during last year’s United States Grand Prix when Lando Norris and Verstappen were battling for position.

Norris copped the same penalty as Verstappen in Jeddah after passing his rival off track in the closing laps of the Austin race.

Red Bull were left angered by the decision to penalise Verstappen but Chandhok believes the stewards have been consistent.

“On that occasion it was Max on the inside and when they went wide it was Lando who went off the track, and it was Lando who came out in front and gained a lasting advantage and got the five-second penalty,” he said when reviewing last year’s clash at COTA.

“The stewards have stayed consistent with what happened there and have given Max a five-second penalty.”