Behind Red Bull's Decision: Why They Didn't Challenge Verstappen's Penalty

Apr.21 - Red Bull will almost certainly not challenge the stewards' decision to impose a controversial 5-second penalty on Max Verstappen.

Title challengers Oscar Piastri and Verstappen went into turn one at Jeddah on Sunday side-by-side, with the Red Bull emerging with the lead after cutting the first corner.

"I'm sticking to it - this corner belonged to me," new championship leader and eventual race winner Piastri told Viaplay afterwards.

"I told myself 'I'm not giving way here'. Everyone saw what happened next," the McLaren driver added.

Piastri ultimately won the race, but by less than the 5 seconds of the penalty. Verstappen was so furious that he completely refused to tell the media his thoughts.

"I don't care," the Dutchman told the Viaplay interviewer when told the world would like to hear his thoughts. "I don't want to talk about it."

When asked why, Verstappen added: "Because I don't want to."

Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko spoke for the reigning world champion by insisting the penalty was "a bit harsh".

"We watched the Formula 2 races and the same thing happened to two or three drivers," he said. "And they only received warnings.

"Ultimately, Max is right when he says 'it is what it is'."

Team boss Christian Horner was so frustrated that he took printed telemetry and on-board photo evidence to his post-race sit-down with the written media.

"We will ask them (the FIA) to look at new onboard footage, which was not available at that time," he said.

A protest or request for a 'right of review', however, is unlikely. "We will discuss it and present these images to them, but it (a protest) is very unlikely.

"I also don't know what happened to the principle of 'let them race' in the first corner. That seems to have disappeared completely," Horner added.

Marko told Austrian broadcaster ORF: "In theory we can file a protest, but then you have to provide new evidence - and therefore you have to have new evidence.

"But on the television images you can actually see everything, so we see no reason to file a protest," he said.

Verstappen also sounded completely uninterested in challenging the outcome. "No, it is not in my interests," he said. "It is only in my interests to go home."

Interestingly, however, even Piastri had to admit that he didn't think Verstappen did anything particularly egregious. "If it had been the other way around, me on that side instead of him, it probably would have looked identical," said the Australian.

Similarly, Verstappen was also not critical of Piastri, who is now shaping up as his most likely challenger for the 2025 world championship.

"He's very solid," the quadruple world champion said. "He's very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on track. He delivers when he has to - barely makes mistakes, and that's what you need when you want to fight for a championship."

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