Jolyon Palmer on the fine received by Verstappen

      Jolyon Palmer, a former Formula 1 driver and now an expert on the official website of the championship, discusses in his column the 5-second penalty received by Max Verstappen in Jeddah: is it possible to agree with this decision of the stewards? Palmer believes that it is definitely necessary.

      The episode in turn 1 sealed the fate of the victory in the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen drove off the track, after which he was fined for obtaining an illegal advantage. As a result, the initiative in the race passed to Oscar Piastri, who became its winner.

      However, in fact, Piastri seized the initiative already in the first meters of the race. Both drivers started on Medium rubber, but it was Oscar who managed to accelerate faster and take the inside track to the left of Verstappen's car just before the first corner.

      The decisive moment of the start often occurs in the second acceleration phase, when riders can really gain an advantage by making full use of the power of their cars' 1,000-horsepower engines, which allows them to get ahead. Oscar did just that, although in Jeddah acceleration towards turn 1 is one of the shortest on the calendar.  

      Oscar acted clearly, took an internal trajectory and braked quite late, so Max had no chance to maintain his position. If Verstappen had stayed sufficiently ahead of Piastri's McLaren in turn 1, then he could have occupied the right space at the exit of the turn, but in that episode, already at the entrance to it, the front wheels of Oscar's car caught up with the RB21.

      It was the one who attacked who had the right to use the entire width of the track. As noted in the official FIA instructions, it is precisely such a driver who has the priority right to turn. For Oscar, the difficulty of the situation was not to allow himself to be deceived, not to make a mistake on braking and not to try, defending his position, to brake too late.

      Then he would also have been off the track, and this would have nullified his attempt to attack – however, Oscar timed the braking perfectly, and entered the corner as he should. He braked late enough to successfully resist Max's actions, but at the same time effectively enough, so he managed to slow down and stay within the highway. In general, he managed to overtake quite cleanly.

      It would seem that Verstappen should have accepted the obvious, agreed that Oscar had overtaken, and tried to regain his position at a later stage of the race. But Max is not like that, and we have known for a long time that he will try at all costs to stay ahead. Therefore, in Jeddah, he released the brake pedal, after which he tried to bypass Piastri along the external trajectory – instead of slowing down and staying on the track. But Max chose to act differently, after which he tried to argue that his opponent had pushed him to the sidelines.

      In fact, he had no chance to stay on the track, considering how fast he was driving in the middle phase of the turn and what trajectory he was on. He would not have stayed within the limits of the track, even if he had a preferential right to that turn – but he did not have such a right.

      I don't expect Verstappen to change his fighting style – he always tries to make the most of all the chances to stay ahead, and also tries to put pressure on the stewards to make decisions in his favor. There have been times in the past when he has succeeded. However, I personally prefer that the drivers sort things out on the track rather than the stewards doing it for them.

      At the same time, one can understand the logic of Red Bull and Verstappen's actions when they decided not to return Piastri's position, as this is a key moment, and in the future they could use it to gain an advantage. Since the stewards limited themselves to a 5-second penalty (they treat the incidents on the first lap very liberally), Max had a chance to increase his advantage, especially since the track in front of him was clear.

      That's exactly how he acted, forcing McLaren and Piastri to make an early pit stop to protect the position. Of course, it is possible that after the finish of the race, Red Bull, analyzing its events, could have estimated that if they had regained their position, then later it could have allowed them to use aggressive tactics, and this is a chance to get ahead of the opponent due to an earlier pit stop.

      However, this did not guarantee that Verstappen would be able to hold on to Piastri's McLaren, especially on the first leg of the race, when he would have to drive in a zone of disturbed air. After all, Medium rubber is prone to overheating in such conditions. But although Max remained ahead at this stage of the race, for which he received a 5-second penalty, this then gave him the opportunity to effortlessly defend his position from George Russell, who was riding in third, who had tire wear problems when the Mercedes driver was driving in traffic.

      Verstappen took 2nd place in the race, while driving a Red Bull car, he showed a very good pace and still retains his chances for the title, despite the fact that at this stage of the championship the RB21 is not as effective as the rivals' equipment.

      Last season, we saw a lot of fights between Verstappen and Lando Norris, in which Max often emerged victorious, but Piastri's first duel with the four-time world champion took place in Jeddah, and the Australian prevailed in it, and did it in his typical unflappable manner. Perhaps this is one of the most effective tools in Oscar's arsenal, and I am sure that in 2025 we will discuss the duels between these two drivers more than once.