Max Verstappen’s Jeddah penalty sparks controversy: Gunther Steiner and others weigh in. The penalty received by Max Verstappen at the start of the Saudi Arabian GP continues to be a talking point.

One of the key moments of the Saudi Arabian GP was the start, where Max Verstappen received a penalty for gaining an advantage by going off track. The Dutch driver saw his chance of claiming a second win of the season slip away, following his masterpiece performance in Suzuka.

At the end of the race in Jeddah, the gap between the reigning world champion and Oscar Piastri was smaller than the five seconds imposed by race control on the Red Bull driver. This result further fueled the controversy in the paddock, to the point where Christian Horner showed up to the media with photos of the incident.

The controversy continues
What raised even more eyebrows was the reasoning provided by the stewards for handing only a five-second penalty to the Dutch superstar, instead of the usual ten seconds typically given in similar cases. The statement referred to a mitigating factor: the fact that the incident occurred at the first corner. However, this didn’t sit well with some within the paddock. Among them was Günther Steiner, who commented on the incident during the Red Flags podcast. “Why wasn’t it a ten-second penalty? They talk about mitigating factors, but in life, either you’re right or wrong. It seems like the stewards weren’t sure whether it was fair to penalize Verstappen, so they went with a middle ground.”

“If I committed a robbery with a gun that had no bullets, would that be a mitigating factor or not? If the penalty is 99% clear and not 100%, then it shouldn’t be given. That said, I think Piastri would’ve beaten Max anyway, as he seemed to have more pace than the Dutchman,” said the former Haas Team Principal.

It will be interesting to see if the standard of judgment used in the Saudi race will be applied in future cases involving similar circumstances.