Bernie Collins questions why Max Verstappen was only given a 5-second penalty in Jeddah

Former Aston Martin strategist and F1 pundit Bernie Collins questioned the FIA race stewards' decision to give Red Bull driver Max Verstappen only a five-second penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last weekend. The Dutchman was penalized by the stewards for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on the opening lap of the race.

The four-time F1 world champion started the race from P1 but got a slower launch compared to McLaren driver Oscar Piastri off the line. Heading into Turn 1, the duo found themselves racing wheel-to-wheel with the Aussie completely alongside the polesitter.

However, Max Verstappen just inched ahead on the apex but was left with no room and cut the chicane to maintain his advantage. But Red Bull refused to give back the position as they believed Verstappen was in the right to get some room and tried to build a five-second gap to the McLaren driver.

Although many have questioned the penalty, while appearing on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Bernie Collins believed that the penalty to Max Verstappen was justified, even questioning the possible leniency from the race stewards, saying:

"I think the penalty was right, as in, it was given to the right driver, and that's how it should have happened. I question the five seconds. I know it was reduced because it was Lap 1. If Verstappen was fast enough to drive off into the distance, the 5 seconds wasn't equivalent to giving that place back."

"So in this case, it worked out because Max wasn't able to drive off into the distance. But in other situations, there were many situations over the years that I've been involved with Force India side as well, where overtaking off track and gaining an advantage was more beneficial than a penalty," Collins added.

Max Verstappen was visibly fuming with the decision but maintained radio silence on the topic in his post-race interviews.

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F1 pundit gives his take on Max Verstappen's penalty in Jeddah

Former F1 driver and pundit Martin Brundle stated that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was "clever" and knew how to "game the system" as he refused to give back the position to Oscar Piastri.

Speaking with Sky Sports, the F1 commentator reflected on the incident and said:

“It has always been clear: if you leave the track and gain an advantage, which [Verstappen] did, because he kept the position, then that position must be given back. It’s better to give up that one position than to risk a five-second time penalty. He’s so clever, he’s got so much control of the car, that he games the system. But he lost out on that throw of the dice.”

Max Verstappen closed the gap to Lando Norris in P2 and sits just two points behind the Brit while having a 12-point gap to the championship leader and Norris's teammate Piastri.