Max Verstappen’s 5-second penalty could have been worse, but start was a mitigating factor | Jeddah GP. Max Verstappen's 5-second penalty in the Saudi Arabian GP could have been more severe.

Crucial incident

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was decided at the start: the battle between Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen at Turn 1 ended with the defending champion cutting the corner and accusing his rival of not leaving him space over the radio. Verstappen and his team decided not to give up the position to the McLaren #81, and so the stewards deemed it correct to penalize the orange superstar with a 5-second penalty. This changed the race: after the pit stops, Piastri took advantage of the penalty to take the lead and hold it until the checkered flag, crossing the line with a 2.6-second margin over Verstappen.

Red Bull protests

The four-time world champion did not appreciate the decision of the stewards, and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also contested the penalty. However, Max Verstappen can consider himself lucky because he narrowly avoided a more severe punishment. For this type of infraction, the standard penalty is 10 seconds, as was learned soon after by Verstappen’s former teammate – Liam Lawson – who was also penalized for cutting Turn 1 while overtaking but was given a 10-second penalty instead of 5.

What causes this difference? In Verstappen’s case, the stewards considered a mitigating factor: in the official document released by the FIA, it is stated that the fact the incident occurred at the start and at Turn 1 “favored” Max, leading the stewards to impose only a “mitigated” 5-second penalty.

“Normally, the standard penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage is 10 seconds,” reads the note. “However, since this was an incident on the first lap and the first corner, we considered this a mitigating circumstance and imposed a 5-second penalty.”

A harsher penalty would have put Verstappen’s second place at risk. Leclerc finished just 5.3 seconds behind the Red Bull #1, and he would have managed his tires differently had he known he could fight for P2 against the Dutchman. Therefore, considering the circumstances, Verstappen should not be too upset with the outcome of this race.