Max Verstappen was left “positively” surprised by Red Bull’s turn of speed that helped him to a second-place finish at the 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
However, the Dutchman could not hide his frustration at the penalty he received for his first lap incident with Oscar Piastri. Verstappen was given a 5-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The reason was him retaining his lead by going off-track in the first corner clash with the McLaren.
As he finished just 2.8 seconds away from Piastri, the penalty inevitably cost him an almost certain victory.
No comments about the controversy on lap 1
When asked about it in the post-race press conference, the reigning world champion was at odds to explain what happened, insinuating he might be penalised for expressing his actual opinion.
“The start happened, turn one happened, and suddenly it was lap 50. It just all went super fast,” he jokingly said, before addressing why he was giving such vague answers. “The problem is that I cannot share my opinion about it, because I might get penalised also. 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, so yeah.”
Sunday in Jeddah “much more promising” for Red Bull
Speaking about the race itself, Verstappen was more willing to give his view. The two-time F1 Saudi Arabian GP winner reflected on a “positively” surprising Sunday in Jeddah in terms of pace. He pointed out how it was a far cry from his Friday practice struggles, over a second off the two McLarens:
“Yeah, I was very positively surprised, to be honest,” he said. “Because on Friday it was very, very tough. And it didn’t matter what I was doing in terms of driving, management, the tyres would just fall off.”
“So yeah, the car was a lot nicer. Of course, still limitations, but it was much more promising. And actually, at one point when I started to pull away again, I was quite surprised and positively surprised.”
“I don’t know, it’s impossible to say,” he added when asked just how close he was in terms of ultimate pace to the McLaren. “I mean, I also haven’t looked at numbers.”
“But for me, I was just positively surprised with my pace. And yeah, it was much better than what I expected it to be. So that’s a good thing.”
Verstappen warns against getting too carried away by Red Bull’s performance in Saudi Arabia
However, Verstappen is wary that the low-degradation, high-speed nature of Jeddah played into Red Bull’s F1 strengths at the Saudi GP. He doesn’t expect this positive trend to be a constant theme going forward, as F1 heads into more demanding circuits:
“Of course, we have to stay a little bit calm,” he warned. “Because this track doesn’t have a lot of [tyre] deg. And we know that when we go to tracks where there’s higher deg, we just struggle more. And yeah, we still need to work on that.”
“But I have to say that, yeah, the changes that we made already yesterday, they also worked for today. So I’m, of course, very pleased with that.”
Piastri’s “very solid” and calm approach paying dividends
Piastri now leads the drivers’ championship in what is just his third F1 season. Verstappen is well used to leading the standings, and believes Piastri’s progress is down to the Australian’s calm and collected approach. He also credited the support from ex-Red Bull driver Mark Webber, who is Piastri’s manager, and compared it to the support he also got from his dad Jos Verstappen:
“I think I’ve said it before, you know, people sometimes, of course, forget a little bit [that] last year was the second year [of his career],” Verstappen said. “Now, of course, he’s in his third year, and he’s very solid. He’s very calm in his approach. And I like that. I think it shows also on track, he delivers when he has to deliver, barely makes any mistakes.”
“And that’s what you need to do when you want to fight for a championship. And of course, also, I think with Mark [Webber] by his side, he’s helping him a lot, I think. It’s great, you know, people learn from their own careers.“
“That is, of course, what I have with my dad. And Mark is trying to also advise, I think, Oscar in that. And then, of course, Oscar has to do the job.”
“At the end of the day, he’s using his talent. And that’s great to see.”
