Max Verstappen ‘gambled and lost’ amid Red Bull ‘misread’ verdict

Max Verstappen “gambled and lost out” in his controversial first-corner tussle with Oscar Piastri at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

That is the verdict of Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle, who believes the Red Bull driver made a rare error of judgement as he copped a costly penalty that became the talking point of Sunday’s race in Jeddah.

Verstappen was handed a five-second time penalty for gaining an unfair advantage by cutting Turn 1 at the start so that he could retain track position over Piastri, who got a better launch from the grid.

The four-time world champion dropped behind Piastri after serving his penalty during his pit stop and would ultimately have to settle with second place.

“Nobody games the regulations as well as Max, but for the first time he gambled and lost out,” Brundle wrote in his Sky column.

“Sometimes you can see incidents from different angles and debate the scenario and doubt your first impressions, but accelerating across the run-off area with relatively little steering lock had plainly given Max an unfair advantage and the lead.

"I and many others had no doubt about that, and nor did the stewards who awarded a five-second penalty, mitigated down from 10 seconds because it was during the opening lap and in close combat.

“He would eventually lose the race by 2.8 seconds and it's possible that if the team had told him to immediately hand back the position, he may have won.

“On the other hand, he was out front in clear air which helped protect his tyres, brakes and engine from overheating and gave him strong pace for all the first stint. Maybe it's worth taking a five-second penalty for that benefit.”

Did Red Bull misread the incident?

The penalty left both Verstappen and his Red Bull team fuming, with team principal Christian Horner printing out evidence to dispute what he felt had been a harsh call from the stewards.

While Brundle understands team’s desires to back their drivers, he feels that on this occasion Red Bull got it wrong.

“If there had been a wall, barrier or gravel trap on the outside of turn one, Max would have yielded and tucked in behind Piastri's McLaren,” he continued.

“Max would continue to be livid long after the race for what he perceived as an error of the stewards, and that he had won the corner but simply been forced off. As was Christian Horner, the team boss, who steamed in to support his man.

“I understand they are hardwired to be so ultra-competitive, along with endlessly being convinced that they are right and everybody else is wrong. That's why they dominated so many seasons, but they didn't read this one properly and lost out.”