Max Verstappen cuts short his post race interview during the F1 Saudi Arabian GP

Max Verstappen started the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on pole position but had an interesting tussle with Oscar Piastri at turn 1, leading him to receive a five-second time penalty. Unhappy with the stewards' decision, the Dutchman seemingly retaliated by cutting short his post-race interview to a few seconds.

The Red Bull driver had not been on par with the McLaren drivers at the start of the weekend. However, the Austrian giant made several changes to the RB21's setup over the free practice sessions and helped Verstappen fight for pole position during qualifying on Saturday.

Despite his achievement, the points are awarded on Sunday at the Grand Prix, and Max Verstappen was aware of it. Regardless of the 27-year-old's efforts to retain an upper hand, Oscar Piastri beat him in reaction time, which led the Dutchman to take a shortcut on the first lap.

However, stewards penalized him for the action and gave him a five-second penalty, which became crucial in the Aussie leapfrogging Verstappen. Upset with the decision, the Red Bull driver retained a close-ended approach to his post-race radio and interview, as he cut it short by glancing over the elephant in the room, as he said:

"I'm going to keep it quite short, I just want to say a big thank you to the fans here in Jeddah. This has been a great weekend. I love the track. Rest, it is what it is, and I'm looking forward to Miami."

Max Verstappen's incident with Oscar Piastri led to the first tussle between the two title contenders during the 2025 season.

---

Oscar Piastri reveals how he was not going to back off from taking a fight with Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri (L) and Max Verstappen (R) at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2025 - Source: Getty

With Lando Norris starting a suboptimal 10th on the grid, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri had the chance to overtake the Briton in the championship standings. However, it meant that whichever driver finished ahead of the other would take the lead in the standings.

Finding himself alongside the Red Bull driver at the apex of turn 1 meant that the Australian could not back off from committing to the overtake. Piastri revealed this during his post-race interview (via the BBC):

"Once I got on the inside, I was not coming out of Turn 1 in second. Then the stewards had to get involved in the end. That is what got me the race, so very happy with the work we do on the starts."

With Piastri winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he became the first Australian driver since Mark Webber to lead the championship. Lando Norris now sits second in the standings, with Max Verstappen following him behind.