Ex-F1 steward: Max Verstappen penalty should have been double

Max Verstappen’s penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix should have been more severe in the view of ex-F1 steward Johnny Herbert.

The Red Bull driver was handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in a first-corner incident with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri during Sunday’s race in Jeddah.

Verstappen, starting from pole position, swung around the outside of Piastri and cut Turn 1 in order to retain track position over the Australian, who had got a better launch from the grid.

The four-time world champion served his penalty during his only pit stop, which dropped him behind Piastri and into second, where he would ultimately finish.

Such offences usually occur a 10-second time penalty but the stewards were more lenient with the punishment considering it was the first corner of the opening lap.

However, ex-F1 driver Herbert - who was axed as an FIA steward ahead of the 2025 season due to his work being deemed “incompatible” with his role as a media pundit - felt Verstappen deserved the baseline penalty.

"Max Verstappen's incident with Oscar Piastri on Turn 1 was a penalty,” Herbert told Beste Online Casino Nederland.

“These are the best drivers in the world, they have the best judgement and the best awareness, so if you're making an overtake into Turn 1, but you completely go off track then it’s a ten-second penalty, but a five-second penalty was applied and I’m not a fan of this.

“Especially if you take the lead like Verstappen did, you can potentially gain that five seconds back quite easily as it has happened before. So, if you can gain the five seconds back by not giving the place back, then what's the point in a penalty?

"It was a definite penalty, because when you go into any corner, especially a tight one like that, you've got to be on the apex near the curb. The apex of the turn was not where Verstappen was, who was two metres out.

“When you're going around the outside with a driver on the inside, your angle of attack into the next turn diminishes massively. It was Piastri's corner and he could place the car wherever he wanted to. Max overshot the corner by releasing the brakes, to try to beat Oscar into Turn 1 whilst carrying lots of speed.”

Max Verstappen should have ‘conceded the corner’

Herbert believes Verstappen should have simply conceded the corner at the start.

"Christian Horner and others are saying 'is Verstappen supposed to just vanish?', well, no, he can’t just vanish but he should have conceded the corner and slipped behind Piastri,” he said.

“James Hunt said to me in my early years of F1 that 'sometimes it’s better to concede the corner if the corner is lost' and that’s exactly what happened and that's when you slip behind the car you’re trying to overtake.

"Verstappen claiming he's been pushed off over the radio is a message to the Race Director to take a look, then he'll ask the stewards to look into it if he feels it needs investigating. It only went to the stewards because Verstappen gained an advantage and stayed in front.

“The stewards will abide by the racing guidelines, which are set in stone before the race weekend. They are agreed with the teams, drivers, and the Race Director.

“The drivers want the stewards to use these guidelines, and Max and all his fellow drivers would have agreed to them too. So there can't be any complaints from Red Bull.

“The driver on the outside has to give the driver on the inside space. Max did give space, but he went off track and gained an advantage.”

Red Bull handled incident ‘wrong’

Red Bull were left angered by the decision, prompting team principal Christian Horner to print out evidence in a bid to dispute the penalty.

Although Red Bull decided against formally protesting the verdict, Herbert was critical of their approach and how they handled the situation.

"Horner then came up with the picture of evidence to show who was in front in Turn 1, which was a load of baloney, but to me, it was passing the buck to the FIA and the stewards,” he continued.

“It's wrong, it shouldn't be like that. Red Bull had a chance to give the place back but they chose not to. Kimi Antonelli did something very similar with Charles Leclerc, same corner, same lap, but he gave the position back.

“If Verstappen had given the position back, he probably would have won the race, but instead, they took a risky strategy of trying to get the five-second penalty by being at the front with a clear track.

“If it was the speedy Red Bull car from two or three years ago, they would have probably gotten away with it, but the McLaren and Piastri were able to keep up.

“"I'm not a fan of this rule, but because it's deemed the first lap is harder to judge, the stewards will only use a five-second penalty due to litigated circumstances, I think it should always be the standard ten-second penalty.

"It should always be the same, if you move the rules around, then it opens a can of worms. They're the best drivers in the world, they know where to brake and accelerate, he gained an advantage, full stop.”