The stewards gave the Red Bull star the penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, specifically by staying ahead of Piastri at the first corner. Whilst Verstappen and his F1 team strongly disagreed with the ruling, the FIA have since released a statement confirming that the penalty could have been even more severe.

Ralf Schumacher believes the crux of Max Verstappen’s penalty in Saudi Arabia wasn’t that he went off the track to stay ahead of Oscar Piastri, but that he gained a lasting advantage by doing so. Verstappen and Piastri raced for the lead off the line at the Jeddah Corniche circuit,

Max Verstappen addresses his controversial penalty during the opening lap of the F1 race in Saudi Arabia in 2025. Find out what Verstappen said!