“He knows how to race”: McLaren boss relies on Lewis Hamilton’s example to highlight controversial moment in Jeddah

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella took a dig at Max Verstappen after his Saudi Arabian GP tactic against Oscar Piastri and compared the Red Bull ace with Lewis Hamilton. The jibe comes after Verstappen cut the corner and went off track to keep his lead in Saudi Arabia.

Jeddah Corniche Circuit hosted the fifth race of the 2025 season, and it was a feisty one. Verstappen started from the pole but lost his advantage after he went off the track to keep his track position. The FIA, deeming it unfair, slapped a five-second time penalty after the Dutchman did not give the place back to Piastri.

As Verstappen received a timed penalty, he had to serve it, and in doing so, he lost P1, and it went to McLaren's Piastri, who went on to win the race. The entire Red Bull camp and Verstappen were upset about the outcome. However, McLaren was nonchalant, as it brought in the example of Lando Norris from Bahrain GP.

"This time, Oscar, thanks to a very good launch off the grid and thanks to positioning the car on the inside, slightly ahead of Max, managing to keep the car within the track limits, then he gained the rights," Stella said (via RacingNews365). "And obviously, in that situation, you can't overtake off track So I think the case is very clear, and like we did with Lando in Bahrain."

Following this, he added how Hamilton and Norris had a wheel-to-wheel battle in Bahrain, with the Ferrari driver going off the track to overtake the McLaren driver. Later on, he made way for Norris and gave the place back instead.

"You may remember that we realized that we overtook Hamilton off the track, even if - kind of - Hamilton drove us off the track. But once again, it's Lewis Hamilton. He knows how to race. For us, we just needed to instruct the driver to give the position back," he added.

Going by the FIA rule book, if a driver overtakes another driver off track, he has to give back the position within 10 seconds, which triggers a penalty, something that hampered Verstappen's race last Sunday.

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How did Max Verstappen react to the Saudi Arabian GP penalty amid McLaren's win?

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 at the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia - Source: Getty

Following his race in Saudi Arabia, Max Verstappen shared a nonchalant and disappointed reaction. Speaking to the media after the race, the four-time world champion stayed away from saying anything controversial.

“The problem is that I cannot share my opinion about it because I might get penalized,” Verstappen said. “So it’s better not to speak about it. I think it’s better not to talk about it. Anything I say or try to say about it might get me in trouble.”

As Max Verstappen lost his lead in Saudi Arabia, he went on to finish the race in P2 and remained in P3 in the drivers' standings. On the other hand, Oscar Piastri claimed P1 in the championship ahead of his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, thanks to the win.