BREAKING: Ex-Red Bull Boss Questions Handling of Verstappen’s Saudi Arabia Penalty due to…read more

BREAKING: Ex-Red Bull Boss Questions Handling of Verstappen’s Saudi Arabia Penalty due to…read more

Jonathan Wheatley, ex-Red Bull sporting director and now Sauber team principal, has said he would have approached Max Verstappen’s controversial Turn 1 incident at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix differently had he still been with Red Bull.

Verstappen, who started from pole, was penalized for leaving the track at the first corner to stay ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had gotten a better launch. The stewards deemed that Verstappen gained a lasting advantage by cutting the corner and issued a five-second penalty. He served it during his pit stop and ultimately finished second, 2.8 seconds behind Piastri.

Reflecting on the incident, Wheatley suggested he wouldn’t have handled it the same way. “I would have recommended a different approach,” he said. “We’d have definitely had a conversation about how to deal with that situation within our team.”

Wheatley pointed to a previous incident between Verstappen and Lando Norris in Austin as a similar scenario where strategy and decision-making were key.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was also critical of the penalty, arguing that Verstappen had limited options at the start. “We talked about ‘let them race’ before the Grand Prix  I’m not sure where Max could’ve gone in that moment,” Horner said. “We lost the race by 2.8 seconds, which makes it tough.”

Despite the penalty, Horner emphasized the team’s strong performance throughout the race and congratulated Piastri on his win.

The stewards explained their decision, stating that Piastri was sufficiently alongside Verstappen to be given space, and Verstappen’s move off track resulted in an advantage that wasn’t surrendered. Given that the incident happened on the opening lap, the penalty was reduced from the standard 10 seconds to five.