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Motorsport

Zak Brown on Max Verstappen's penalty: "Oscar was clearly up the inside"

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Max Verstappen Zak Brown Oscar Piastri McLaren Red Bull

The 2025 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was ultimately decided by events at the first corner.

Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen arrived side by side, with Piastri asserting himself on the inside line, leaving Verstappen with two options: back off or take to the run-off area on the outside.

Verstappen chose the latter and rejoined the track in the lead, incurring a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Although he held on to the lead until making his first and only pitstop, the five-second ‘hold’ in his box cost him track position and, in the final analysis, the race.

The rights and wrongs of the penalty naturally became an incendiary topic in the fan community as well as on the pitwall.

Red Bull’s take, as expressed by ‘driver advisor’ Helmut Marko, was that several similar infractions had gone unpunished in the F2 races this weekend, so the penalty was unjustified.

However, the rules of engagement in F1 are very clear in circumstances such as this: if a driver leaves the track and is deemed to have gained an advantage by doing so, they must hand back any positions gained.

Red Bull and Verstappen failed to do this even when informed that the matter had been escalated to the stewards, making the five-second penalty inevitable.

Although Piastri had the disadvantage of ‘dirty air’ in Verstappen’s wake during the opening stint, the world champion’s penalty shifted the initiative and the McLaren driver led the remainder of the race once his late-stopping team-mate Lando Norris, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, had pitted out of the way.

“It probably would have been better for everyone if they’d swapped positions,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown told Sky Sports F1 after the race.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Zak Brown, McLaren (Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images)

“I definitely thought a penalty was deserved. Oscar was clearly up the inside, he got a better start and you need to use the racetrack.

“Whether it’s a five-second penalty or give the position back, I think you could go either way – but I thought it was definitely appropriate, it was Oscar’s corner, and at some point you gotta just concede.”

Photos from Saudi Arabian GP - Race

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Alexandra Saint Mleux

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al Abdullah Al-Faisal, Chairman of SAMF with Mohammed ben Sulayem, FIA President

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Jack Doohan, Alpine

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Carlos Sainz, Williams, Alexander Albon, Williams

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Lando Norris, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Flavio Briatore, Alpine

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Angela Cullen, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

George Russell, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, Jack Doohan, Alpine

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team, Alexander Albon, Williams

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Lando Norris, McLaren, Carlos Sainz, Williams

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, Williams, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Zak Brown, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Zak Brown, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Andrea Stella, McLaren, Zak Brown, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

George Russell, Mercedes

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Zak Brown, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Sunday

Formula 1

67

In this article

Stuart Codling

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri

Red Bull Racing

McLaren

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