Verstappen says ‘people can’t handle the full truth’ after Saudi penalty

Max Verstappen refused to discuss his unhappiness with a penalty he was given in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix because he was concerned about retribution from Formula 1’s governing body the FIA.

The four-time champion’s five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in a first-corner battle with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri potentially cost him the race win to the Australian.

Verstappen said: “You can’t share your opinion because it’s not appreciated apparently, or people can’t handle the full truth. Honestly, it’s better if I don’t say too much.

“It’s honestly just how everything is becoming. Everyone is super-sensitive about everything. And what we have (in the rules) currently, we cannot be critical anyway. So less talking – even better for me.”

Verstappen’s comments are a reference to a change in the FIA’s rule book over the winter that codified a series of penalties for drivers who either repeatedly swear or criticise the governing body.

These were introduced at the behest of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and can lead to a one-month ban plus deduction of championship points.

The changes were introduced after drivers’ swearing in news conferences last year led to controversial penalties.

Verstappen had to do a motorsport equivalent of community service for using a swear word in a news conference at the Singapore Grand Prix. And Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fined for doing the same in Las Vegas.

Verstappen said in the official news conference in Jeddah on Sunday: “I cannot swear in here, but at the same time, you also can’t be critical in any form that might ‘harm’ or ‘danger’… Let me get the sheet out. There’s a lot of lines, you know?

“So that’s why it’s better not to talk about it – you can put yourself in trouble, and I don’t think anyone wants that.”

When it was put to him that being less expansive than previously had seemed to be a trend from him already this season, he said: “It has to do with social media in general, and how the world is. I prefer not to talk a lot because sometimes your words can be twisted or people interpret it in a different way. It’s honestly better not to say too much.”

The phrase in the FIA sporting code to which Verstappen is referring forbids “any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers, and more generally on the interest of motor sport and on the values defended by the FIA”.

Verstappen and Piastri go into the first corner side by side

Verstappen’s radio messages during the race clearly indicated he did not approve of the penalty he was given, but he was warned to keep his thoughts to himself.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he felt the penalty was “very harsh” and asked rhetorically: “Whatever happened to ‘let them race on the first lap?’ That just seems to have been abandoned.”

The stewards’ verdict contained an answer to that – it said that the normal penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage was 10 seconds, but they reduced it to five because it was the first lap.

Verstappen was penalised for cutting the chicane after the start and keeping the lead.

Piastri had got fully alongside him on the inside on the entry to the first corner. Despite this, Verstappen cut the second part of the chicane and retained the lead.

F1’s driving standards guidelines effectively say that the corner was Piastri’s in that situation.

They say that for a driver overtaking on the inside to be “entitled to be given room (his car) must have its front axle at least alongside the mirror of the other car prior to and at the apex, be driven in a fully controlled manner particularly from entry to apex and not have ‘dived in”; and in the stewards’ estimation have taken a reasonable racing line and been able to complete the move while remaining within track limits.”

Piastri comfortably complied with all these criteria.

He said: “The stewards had to get involved, but I thought I was plenty far enough up (alongside) and in the end that’s what got me the race.

“I knew that I had enough of my car alongside to take the corner. We obviously both braked extremely late. For me, I braked as late as I could while staying on the track. And I think how it unfolded is how it should have been dealt with.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “Oscar, thanks to a very good launch off the grid, and thanks to positioning the car on the inside, [was] slightly ahead of Max, managing to keep the car within the track limits, then he gained the rights (to the corner), and obviously in that situation you can’t overtake off track.

“This is a clear case. It shouldn’t create any polemic, really.”

Verstappen led until the first pit stops, when he served the penalty and dropped behind Piastri, who controlled the race from there to take his third win in five grands prix this season.

It included a bold move around the outside of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari on the approach to the high-speed Turns 22 and 23 at a critical point of the race, to minimise his time loss on the lap Verstappen stopped.

Verstappen had shown strong pace in the first stint, tracked closely by the McLaren, and was pulling away slightly by the time Piastri made his stop on lap 19.

Once into the lead, Piastri controlled the race but was unable to extend the gap to Verstappen despite having the advantage of clean air.

Norris ‘needs to chill out a little bit’

Lando Norris won the season opener in Australia

Piastri was overshadowed by Norris in 2024, but has been the more impressive of the McLaren drivers since the start of this season.

Norris, who fought back from 10th on the grid after a crash in qualifying to finish fourth, just nine seconds behind Piastri, admitted after the race that he needs to “chill out a little bit” and that he was “not surprised” he had lost the championship lead.

His crash in qualifying was his biggest mistake of the season but it comes after a series of small errors, usually in qualifying, that have harmed his chances in races since he won the season-opening grand prix in Australia from pole position.

“I have been very confident in my race, it’s my qualifying, my Saturdays, which are not good enough at the minute,” Norris said.

“That’s because I am struggling a little bit with the car. Yesterday was not the car, it was just me trying to take too many risks.

“So I just have to peg it back. I’ve got the pace. It’s all in there. It’s just sometimes I ask for a bit too much and sometimes I get a bit too ‘ego’ probably and try to put the perfect lap together. I just need to chill out a little bit.

“I make my life too tough on Saturday. So it makes my Sundays a little more fun at times but I miss out on a few trophies. I have to work on my Saturdays and if I do that I am confident I can get back to where I was.”