Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri were involved in an incident on the opening lap of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Race stewards have now explained why they handed Verstappen a five-second penalty for the clash.
Verstappen surprised many by taking pole position around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. His time of a 1:27.294 was just 0.010 seconds faster than Piastri's lap, the McLaren driver starting the race alongside him on the front row.
However, the Dutchman was immediately under threat from the Australian driver after a poor launch off the line for the former. Piastri pulled alongside Verstappen in the run up to the first corner, and attempted to snatch the lead of the race.
Verstappen, believing he was forced off the track by the McLaren, cut the very next corner and stayed ahead of Piastri. Stewards subsequently handed Verstappen a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
He Was Entitled To Be Given Room
The decision to hand Verstappen a time penalty was a contentious one, and ultimately resulted in the defending Champion falling behind Piastri for the remainder of the race.
After the Grand Prix, stewards released a statement detailing their exact reasonings for awarding the penalty to Verstappen for his role in the first lap incident.
Apart from the fact that Piastri was alongside Verstappen at the Turn 1 apex, stewards also explained that because Verstappen hadn't relinquished first place to Piastri for an extended period of time after cutting Turn 2, he was awarded the five-second time penalty.
The statement reads: "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 5 second time penalty instead."
Read Also: Verstappen mum on clash with Piastri: ‘Just a waste of time’
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko offered an opposing view, labelling the penalty as "harsh" given the nature of the incident.
He told Sky Germany: "I think the race was lost at the start. And really, where was Max supposed to go?
"In our view, the five-second penalty was a bit harsh… the inconsistency in stewarding is difficult to understand. Yes, Piastri was ahead at the start, but at the very last braking zone, Max was slightly ahead again.
"But it is what it is," concluded Marko.
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