Max Verstappen faces backlash from F1 veteran for "stupid idiots" remark: "Don’t run into other people and then you won’t get the penalties"

Martin Brundle was displeased with Max Verstappen's passive-aggressive comment towards the stewards for penalizing him for the incident at the start of the race. He had to serve a 10-second time penalty after pitting.

As lights went out for the final time in the 2024 F1 season for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen overshot his expectations as he dived into the inside of Oscar Piastri to claim P2. He ended up making contact and both drivers spun out on the track, sending the latter to the back of the grid. Subsequently, the Dutchman was given a 10-place grid penalty for the incident.

As Max Verstappen came down to pit on lap 30, his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase reminded him of the time penalty. Replying to him aggressively on the team radio, the 27-year-old said:

"Could we ask for 20 seconds? Stupid idiots."

Both Sky Sports F1 commentators did not receive the comment well. Martin Brundle claimed that one cannot target the "referee" and say that, as Verstappen likely used those words for the race stewards.

"You can’t say that about the referees, you can’t say that," Brundle said during the race. "That’s just not fair, they’re applying the regulations and don’t run into other people and then you won’t get the penalties."

David Croft added:

"I understand the emotions, I understand that he’s annoyed but he’s a four-time world champion, it’s not going to make any difference to his finishing position in the championship and he was the one who steamed down the inside and made contact with another car."

"Come on Max, you’re bigger than that, you’re better than that."

Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri after contacting at the race start (Getty Images)

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Max Verstappen apologizes to Oscar Piastri after race, claims he had "nothing to gain" from the move

Max Verstappen clinched his fourth World Championship earlier in the season after the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Constructors' Championship was pretty much out of the window for RBR as McLaren and Ferrari battled out on the top in the final race. So, Verstappen's aggressive lunge down to the inside wasn't well appreciated.

He claimed the same as he spoke after the race. He stated that he apologized to Oscar Piastri as he had "nothing to gain" from the move. He further mentioned that he had to end the season on a positive note with the McLaren driver going into the winter break.

"For me, the most important thing I had to do was apologize to Oscar," Max Verstappen told GPBlog. "Because I had nothing to gain, nothing to lose. I went for it. It didn't work out. I feel bad for him the most that we both spun. It’s not nice. He’s a friend of mine, so I want things to be good between us when we go into the winter break."

Although Piastri fell to the bottom of the grid after the incident and finished only P10, McLaren was able to clinch the title despite Ferraris finishing P2 and P3. Lando Norris converted his pole position into a race win and had just enough margin for the team to win their first Constructors' Championship since 1998.