Red Bull is unlikely to contest the stewards’ resolution to impose a contentious 5-2nd penalty on Max Verstappen right thru the Saudi Arabian Gigantic Prix.
Red Bull is unlikely to contest the stewards’ resolution to impose a contentious 5-2nd penalty on Max Verstappen right thru the Saudi Arabian Gigantic Prix.
Verstappen and title rival Oscar Piastri battled side-by-side into turn one, with the Red Bull driver keeping the lead after cutting right thru the chicane.
Piastri, who emerged because the new championship leader and hotfoot winner, stood agency on his location. “I’m sticking to it—this corner belonged to me,” he told Viaplay. “I told myself ‘I’m not giving way here’. Everyone saw what happened next.”
With Piastri’s victory margin being no longer up to the penalty’s 5 seconds, Verstappen used to be incensed, level-easy refusing to discuss the topic with the media. “I don’t care,” he told Viaplay when pressed for his strategies on why he would no longer acknowledge. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
When all yet again requested why, he added, “Because I don’t want to.”
Red Bull marketing consultant Dr Helmut Marko spoke on Verstappen’s behalf, labelling the penalty “a bit harsh.” He famed, “We watched the Formula 2 races and the same thing happened to two or three drivers. And they only received warnings.”
Marko added, “Ultimately, Max is right when he says ‘it is what it is’.”
Crew most necessary Christian Horner, visibly pissed off, introduced printed telemetry and onboard photo proof to his post-hotfoot media session. “We will ask them (the FIA) to look at new onboard footage, which was not available at that time,” he acknowledged.
Nonetheless, he downplayed the likelihood of a proper protest or search data from for a ‘right of evaluation’. “We will discuss it and present these images to them, but it (a protest) is very unlikely. I also don’t know what happened to the principle of ‘let them race’ in the first corner. That seems to have disappeared completely,” Horner remarked.
Marko echoed this sentiment to Austrian broadcaster ORF, pointing out, “In theory we can file a protest, but then you have to provide new evidence—and therefore you have to have new evidence. But on the television images you can actually see everything, so we see no reason to file a protest.”
Verstappen himself confirmed no passion in pursuing the topic. “No, it is not in my interests,” he acknowledged.
“It is only in my interests to go home.”
Particularly, even Piastri acknowledged that Verstappen’s actions were no longer specifically severe in his gape. “If it had been the other way around, me on that side instead of him, it probably would have looked identical,” the Australian admitted.
Verstappen, in turn, shunned criticising Piastri, who is emerging as his key contender for the 2025 world championship. “He’s very solid,” Verstappen acknowledged.
“He’s very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on track. He delivers when he has to—barely makes mistakes, and that’s what you need when you want to fight for a championship.”
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