After five races, one thing seems certain about the 2025 season so far—Red Bull has a lot of catching up to do with McLaren. Pace-wise, they’re well behind the Woking-based outfit, who appear to be running away with the Constructors’ title in these early stages.
Max Verstappen, however, has found a way to stay in contention for the Drivers’ Championship, thanks to his individual brilliance.
First, he stunned the F1 community by beating the McLarens to pole in Suzuka three weeks ago and converting that into a win. Then, after a disastrous outing in Bahrain due to the RB21’s balance issues, Verstappen once again proved his worth by grabbing pole in Jeddah—finishing just 0.010 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri.
Unfortunately, in the race, Piastri got the better of him.
The Dutchman didn’t get the best of starts, allowing Piastri to pull alongside him into Turn 1. Verstappen then controversially went off the track but retained his position, claiming the Australian had pushed him wide. However, the stewards saw it differently. They ruled that since Piastri was ahead going into the corner, it was his right, and Verstappen had gained an unfair advantage by leaving the track.
Because the 27-year-old did not relinquish the position, he was handed a five-second time penalty. Veteran F1 journalist Jennie Gow has since criticized Red Bull for being “stubborn,” blaming the team for not instructing Verstappen to give the place back—despite knowing he was in the wrong and would likely be penalized.
This photo of Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen going into turn 1 pic.twitter.com/v4zNXfeiVc
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) April 22, 2025
“Red Bull are so stubborn. They were never going to give that place back, were they? We were shouting at the TV, saying, ‘Give it back. Why would you not give it back‘?” Gow said on the Midweek F1 podcast.
She added that a penalty for Verstappen was inevitable, especially considering that Kimi Antonelli made a similar move on Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap but chose to give the place back. The decision ultimately worked in the Italian’s favor, as he later overtook Hamilton again and went on to finish sixth.
Had Verstappen taken a similar approach, he might have had another opportunity later in the race to reclaim the position from Piastri. Instead, he got penalized, and served it during his pit stop—making things far easier for Piastri, who regained the lead after the stops and went on to control the race from there.
So, even though Verstappen and Red Bull were furious with the decision, they were at fault for refusing to give the place back.
Team principal Christian Horner did his best to challenge the stewards’ ruling, presenting images to argue that Verstappen was ahead at the apex and therefore should not have been penalized.
However, Horner’s efforts were in vain, as the decision stood. And with Red Bull choosing not to appeal, it’s evident they didn’t believe they had sufficient evidence to overturn the ruling.
As for why the Milton Keynes-based team didn’t order Verstappen to swap places with Piastri, chief advisor Helmut Marko explained, “Our strategy expert and FIA contact had pointed out: We’ve seen several incidents in Formula 2 in the first corner that played out pretty much like Verstappen’s later incident against Piastri. There were no penalties, just warnings.”
