Max Verstappen refused to give his view on the penalty which potentially cost him victory today, and offered several reasons why.
The Red Bull driver served a five-second time penalty in his pit stop for leaving the track at the first corner on lap one and gaining a position from Oscar Piastri. The McLaren driver had moved ahead of him as they accelerated towards the first corner.Most drivers who committed similar infractions at the first corner gave the position back immediately. Asked in the FIA press conference why he did not, Verstappen replied: “I think it’s better not to talk about it. Anything I say or try to say about it might get me in trouble.”
Following his punishment for swearing in an FIA press conference last year, Verstappen began giving brief answers when attending the governing body’s media engagements. Verstappen said he has also been less forthcoming in his responses because he does not want his views being distorted.
“It has to do with social media in general and how the world is,” said Verstappen. “I prefer not to talk a lot because sometimes your words can be twisted or people interpret it in a different way. It’s honestly better not to say too much. So that’s what I’m trying to do.”
“It’s just the world we live in,” he added when asked to elaborate. “You can’t share your opinion because it’s not appreciated, apparently, or people can’t handle the full truth.
“Honestly, it’s better if I don’t say too much. It also saves my time because we already have to do so much.
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“It’s honestly just how everything is becoming. Everyone is super-sensitive about everything. And what we have currently, we cannot be critical anyway. So less talking [is] even better for me.”
During the off-season the FIA broadened its definition of what constitutes “misconduct” by drivers. It also introduced a new regime of fines and, for multiple offences, suspensions and points deductions.
Verstappen said this is another reason why he was reluctant to discuss the incident.
“I know I cannot swear in here,” he said, “but at the same time, you also can’t be critical in any form that might ‘harm’ or ‘[en]danger’… let me get the sheet out. There’s a lot of lines, you know.
“So that’s why it’s better not to talk about it – you can put yourself in trouble, and I don’t think anyone wants that.”
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2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
- Red Bull made tactical decision not to avoid a penalty in Jeddah, Horner confirms
- Norris’s starts were far poorer than Verstappen’s but the balance is shifting
- McLaren’s rivals “just one upgrade away from being the lead car” – Brown
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- Doohan’s final corner pass on Bortoleto was F1’s closest fight for last place in seven years
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
20th April 2025, 23:25
Grow up, man baby!
El Pollo Loco
21st April 2025, 1:29
Just because Max has zero good argument against the penalty even if he could talk, it doesn’t mean this isn’t true. I’d say your reaction is pretty reflective of immature partisanship itself.
Riccard
21st April 2025, 9:49
Red Bull did release arguments (and extra onboard footage) outside the press conference
So this seems to be a deliberate decision that the criticism needs to come outside the press conference and not from a driver. They did have things to say.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
21st April 2025, 7:34
@sonnycrockett How is attempting to follow the regulations as written in the press conference worthy of such insults? The FIA’s attitude to this makes it clear that anything else, other than lying, would have netted Verstappen a penalty.
Red Pill (@redpill)
21st April 2025, 8:13
@alianora-la-canta
“FIA’s attitude to this makes it clear that anything else, other than lying, would have netted Verstappen a penalty.”
Can you please expand on this? Max could have told his side of the story, and give his vision of the incident without attacking the stewards or use foul language to avoid retribution from FIA, but he instead decided play the silence card to instill controversy or simply knows himself being in the wrong but can’t deal with it.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
21st April 2025, 8:15
@redpill Max “telling his side of the story” would inevitably have ended up with him having a different version of what happened to the stewards. That’s deemed dissent, the way the FIA has enforced the regulations in WRC.
Even agreeing completely with the stewards’ version of events (using a printout of the official opinion to help him) but happening to choose one word over another that was at variance with the stewards’ view of events would have been classed as dissent.
Red Pill (@redpill)
21st April 2025, 8:19
PS: Not that I agree at all with the FIA or like how they’re attempting to handle drivers and their own people at FIA.
Oople
21st April 2025, 9:22
@sonnycrockett
Hey, kettle, the pot called…
Zim'sF1 Fan
21st April 2025, 11:11
Yeah, he is deflecting the heat on him, but damn the man is right….it’s not in F1 only. Our world sucks nowadays.
Let the man swear, let the man say his mind in anyway he wants.
BenHur
27th April 2025, 21:12
Such a lost opportunity for silence
MichaelN
20th April 2025, 23:35
So he spends five paragraphs detailing at length the reasons as to why he can’t say much? That’s interesting. Kinda disproves his point, but hey! Whatever works for him.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st April 2025, 0:31
I don’t understand these first 2 comments: he did the right thing, brought attention to the fact you can’t say anything without risking a fine nowadays with all censorship by the fia and explained the reasons he couldn’t do that; it’s fine to use several lines for that since there’s no risk.
MichaelN
21st April 2025, 8:13
That’s just his frame. If the only thing he can think of to say are those that might be sanctioned, that’s his problem. It doesn’t quite paint him as some kind of victim of the system.
This woe is me act from him is rather unbecoming of a four time champion in his late twenties. He can do better.
Craig
21st April 2025, 8:29
It’s not even a new act for him, he’s been using it whenever he gets caught out with no escape.
Osnola
21st April 2025, 8:58
So thats your frame…
Doh
21st April 2025, 13:05
Really though, plenty times drivers show that they didn’t like or disagreed with decision but that it is what it is. Max himself is most vocal on the radio. And suddenly this this it’s not okay?
Jojo
21st April 2025, 2:21
Well he can say as much as he wants, just to explain the current situation and why he won’t directly discuss the penalty.
He can’t say anything critical about the penalty itself due to potential fines. If the stewards happen to face abuse or threats on social media, they may blame his criticism for inciting hatred or causing harm and danger to FIA officials. So he did the right thing.
Patrick (@paeschli)
21st April 2025, 6:14
You do realize what you’re reading here is an aggregate of answers to different questions journalists asked to try to get something out of him, right?
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
21st April 2025, 7:35
MichaelN, the fact these are the only 5 truthful paragraphs he’s allowed to say proves the point for him.
Addme (@dontme)
21st April 2025, 7:36
Only proves you don’t get it.
Mooa42
21st April 2025, 10:10
He didn’t spend 5 paragraphs detailing, this text is from the post race press conference where multiple different “journalists” tried to ask similar questions to elicit a response so they might get a headline. Max responded fairly to all, he obviously hadn’t had time to debrief with the team so didn’t want to say what he thought without reviewing what had happened with his team. A fair response I feel.
Ferdi
21st April 2025, 0:17
I really like how Max handled all of those questions and how he genuinely praised Oscar for the great talent that he is
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st April 2025, 0:32
Yes, I think he answered correctly too.
Mooa42
21st April 2025, 10:11
+1
DavidS (@davids)
21st April 2025, 0:51
Because he knows that he didn’t have a case.
The team didn’t even attempt to passive aggressively argue the case on the radio for a penalty going the other way (e.g. “yeah, we saw that, he ran you right off the road”). That’s not being critical of the stewards, that’s being critical of another driver, which is fair game.
Instead, they told him to be quiet, which means they think he was in the wrong, and are in damage control.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
21st April 2025, 7:36
@davids The way the FI has reacted, Max couldn’t have safely defended the FIA even if he thought their case was perfect, because of the risk of saying something that might be deemed “dissent”.
Alan Dove
21st April 2025, 9:49
Horner literally had print outs.
Addme (@dontme)
21st April 2025, 7:37
Those are a lot of assumptions. Anything to back it up except “trust me”
Cdfemke
21st April 2025, 9:04
He did for at least a slight bit. He was only handed a 5s penalty where 10s was handed to another driver for the same offence in the same corner. A lighter penalty because it might not be entirely his choice to go that line
Riccard
21st April 2025, 9:51
I don’t like making this argument. If we as fans say “I won’t believe a team that doesn’t play games on the radio”, then we force teams to play games on the radio.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
21st April 2025, 2:00
He realises he sounds worse this way right?
Osnola
21st April 2025, 9:00
Only by the ones not liking max. And they start to scream when they see him :)
Femke
21st April 2025, 9:04
Might be his intention, to put a spotlight on those media rules
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
21st April 2025, 12:00
@tommy-c Only to people who don’t know the regulations.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st April 2025, 6:31
I don’t fully buy into his claim.
rprp
21st April 2025, 8:04
His response raises good points. I hope deep down he does realise it was a penalty, but he’s also perfectly entitled to say what he said, and not get drawn into anything that might come back to bite him.
The stance the FIA have taken is only going to lead to more of this. If it carries on, then I imagine Liberty/FOM might want a word with the FIA.
Red Pill (@redpill)
21st April 2025, 8:36
If this is true, then MBS’s FIA is going to kill F1 in his attempt to over sanitizing it and will turn off a lot of viewers and kill F1’s character. I will be one of them who will happily stop watching and reading about F1, if FIA continues this way. Maybe a season or two later it will hopefully swing back to it’s normal self.
S
21st April 2025, 12:04
F1’s character is drivers swearing at inappropriate times and denigrating the stewards, is it? The pinnacle of immature and unprofessional behaviour?
Is that really what people are watching F1 for..?
rprp
21st April 2025, 21:10
Where did anyone mention swearing? The complaint here is that anybody that criticises the stewards or the FIA or the sport, in any manner that the FIA deems inappropriate, risks a fine.
Doh
21st April 2025, 13:43
It’s always been this way. Drivers and team bosses couldn’t even call out ad21. A very clear and massive breach. They definitely wouldn’t want that to have happened to them or be okay with it if it happened to them. Only stroll did and Riccardo but only on the radio.
Either that or they just lack integrity
moi
21st April 2025, 8:51
Max is absolutely right here. Not saying this particular penalty was unjustified, but on the very principle that you may not criticize what FIA says or else.
MBS is trying to apply the rules from his home to FIA and getting away with it. Where are the usual moral crusaders now? Or does it not apply when Max is saying it?
Doh
21st April 2025, 14:04
If it’s true I sympathise with max. But is it? He and other and often said they don’t agree with a decision but we move on sort of thing.
Again if it’s true I sympathise but max is pretty vague sometimes like this. For example in Qatar last year after quali. I was saying it at the time but not many people were speaking about it. He said of course some strong things about Russel but it was pretty vague and he didn’t actually specifically say what had happen or what was such a problem. It seemed more like smoke and mirrors. All he did was make accusations but not really provide any insight on what or why and what the actual problem was. Maybe mbs spoke to him after he got out he car
Or maybe it’s to distract it’s a bit of an unknown.
Plenty times drivers voice their opinion on these matters in subtle but clear ways and somehow he can’t now? When he and other usually do.
Overall it seems like a distraction. Even on the radio he was quiet about it after the race and that was before mbs could have spoken to him.
Perhaps he simply knows he was wrong or can’t see the hypocrisy.
And I think the fact we’re always talking about these tedious things is part of the problem rather than the actual racing. It becomes boring when good racing just becomes a let’s see who can roll off the brakes best or let’s see who can make it look like they’re ahead and then overtake or defend off the track.
It’s actually comical and makes the sport look silly and as if it’s throwing contest.
Imagine in football with players fighting for the ball near the edge of the pitch. If one player gets a little shoulder push, yeh decides to exaggerate it and take ye ball out of bounds then continue playing while complaining they got pushed wide. Everyone would laugh and say they’re an idiot and the ref would give a throw in to the other side. Possibly even a yellow for trying to act like that’s okay, continue okay and complain they apprently got pushed wide.
That would be unwatchable and thats what F1 has becomee because they refuse to set the tone for what isn’t okay. Brazil 2021 was 3.5 years ago and where still on this subject lol.
Imagine the above football scenario but the ref allows play to continue and maybe just gives a warning at best. It would be ridiculous and the sport would become unwatchable with that kind of nonsense, but that’s what happens in f1 regularly.
Dracae
21st April 2025, 22:06
Oo…it absolutely is true!
I am surprised by any F1 fan that hasn’t at least heard or read a bit about it.
MBS acting like a total dictator, using the autocratic ways we often see in the region he is from and also more and more in ‘The West’ is not new, recent or unseen.
This isn’t a partisan issue.
Many drivers and other prominent people in F1 and fir that matter World Rally have spoken up about it.
Russel and Sainz, in their role as Union representatives have done so officially and unofficially also.
Several FIA administrators quit because of it, otters are banned from attending meetings, which in itself is against FIA’s rules and bylaws.
Conky
21st April 2025, 9:00
Once again Red Bull and Verstappen did nothing wrong. The have never done anything wrong.
/sarcasm
This has to be the most immature cheating team driver combination ever. Only worse teams I can think of are Benetton/Briatore/Schumacher or Ferrari/Todt/Brawn/Schumacher.
Osnola
21st April 2025, 9:01
So at least he is the company of the sports greatest. Not to bad..
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
21st April 2025, 11:27
Yep some of the greatest drivers also were not adverse to playing dirty. To win fair and not resort to cheating is the greatest way to win and Max dummy throwing and on track tactics have already done for his legacy. Not that he cares but the rest of the world does.
Conky
22nd April 2025, 6:18
Correct. It’s at least a good thing that there is no hiding from this type of cheating nowadays. Back in the Schumacher/Benetton Schumacher/Ferrari days, before social media, everyone was very quick to move on. Now we can say for certain that Schumacher really wasn’t one of the true greats, because to be a true legend it takes more than winning. F1 was (is?) and is supposes to be a sport. We have all of the info at our fingertips. If one isn’t willing to look up that information and accept the facts, then that says more about the supposed F1 fan. Facts: Verstappen is an immature hypocritical crybaby and Red Bull Racing as an entity are corrupt liars, which trickles down from the Thai owner who was surprise surprise named in the Panama Papers. Corrupt to the bone marrow.
NM
21st April 2025, 10:05
congrats on completely mussing the point….
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
21st April 2025, 11:38
you keep telling everyone they’re missing or ‘mussing’ the point. SO what is it or are you not sure yourself?
Leo B
21st April 2025, 9:31
I’m clearing my fridge door and sticking on a picture of Max in the cool down, sulking for all he was worth.
Reminds one and all that you have to accept your mistakes and losses in life or you are a joke to others.
NM
21st April 2025, 10:07
again, still amazed on how you can miss the point by this much.
Leksa (@leksa)
21st April 2025, 10:27
Since “causing moral injury or loss to the FIA” means automatic €40,000 penalty, I think Max is correct for not risking it. Obviously the problem is FIA and its new authoritarianism. The sooner MBS is trashed, the sooner F1 is freed from these ridiculous moral codes.
Ferdi
21st April 2025, 10:47
Yet most people here fail to see that this is the essence of his remarks. They come across as first time viewers. That is both endearing as well as worrying.
Toxic
21st April 2025, 10:46
Boo hoo 40k penalty is nothing for him. If he really wanted to make a point he should’ve just say it all out loud and not play the victim card every single time he gets a penalty for his usual bs dirty racing. Glad that finally McLaren has a driver to challenge him and not just fold away.
Dracae
21st April 2025, 22:20
40k and up, including a raceban…
As for the ‘boohoo’, playing the victim, let’s be real, almost EVERY driver complains regularly …sometimes rightly so, sometimes not and at times I can’t even tell..
It is a less uplifting part of the F1 circus, which I could do without, but it is normal and not just in F1, but in all major sports where referees are active and instrumental to wins and losses.
Let’s not get distracted by liking or disliking particular drivers or teams, but realise the autocratic behavior of MBS is THE problem!
Just ask all the other drivers, including your favorites .. we know their opinion since Russel as their official representative gave it multiple times!
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
21st April 2025, 11:09
He can and did say plenty. Its no wonder his fans show no class when the man himself cant. The Max loophole was already closed which he previously and brilliantly took cynical advantage of until the FIA realised he was effectively dive bombing himself to stay ahead. When you lose you find out about the man. We already knew but crying is not a good look
Zim'sF1 Fan
21st April 2025, 11:18
It’s just sport. In Suzuka Norris was claiming Max pushed him to the grass. Everyone seeks an advantage in any sport. Just don’t muzzle people, that’s it.
Besides, by giving so many rules the FIA are giving everyone ammunition to deflect questions.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
21st April 2025, 12:02
@tonymansell From the in-car radio, Max believed he had been told in that weekend’s driver briefing that the move was allowed. Only logical that he would think a new loophole (this one exploitable by all drivers) was open.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
21st April 2025, 12:50
We don’t know the exact wording and RBR did not appeal. Max will break the rules when it suits him and then spends half an hour telling everyone he can’t say anything. He’s a walking contradiction and a bit of a cry baby. He’s not alone in that but he is that
Ferdi
22nd April 2025, 11:39
I kind of get the feeling you are not a fan of Max.
Henry Ford
24th April 2025, 9:41
So I really think Max is completely misunderstood. He knows the rule book better than anyone. And of course he will go for the limits. As do the teams with the ‘flexiwings’ and other parts. This is the nature of the sport. The same as in Football, you get an occasional yellow card as well. We all love Ronaldo or Messi or whichever player, but they all get yellow cards as well.
The penalty here in my opinion was valid. However the point that Max was talking about was not the penalty it was the infliction of track limits, the track limit violation would not count to a ‘strike’ in Corner 1 of the race, that was the briefing..
Please educate yourself a bit on this.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th April 2025, 13:08
Track limits ‘strikes’ are not counted against drivers if they are judged to have been forced off. Given Verstappen’s penalty, clearly the stewards did not believe he had been forced off, and therefore the strike was counted against him.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
21st April 2025, 11:19
Max was caught out with a slower start. Took a shot that he wouldn’t be penalized and lost. Pleaded his case over the radio by saying PIA made a move that wouldn’t allow PIA to make the corner. That was absolutely false as PIA made the corner. Not sure why Max is upset at anyone. His plan B if behind at the 1st corner was to cut the corner and hope there was no penalty. There was never any discussion at Red Bull to give the place back.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
21st April 2025, 12:03
@jimfromus He thought it was explicitly allowed, so not much point discussing with Red Bull because it wouldn’t have occurred to him he might have done anything that could attract ire.
M2X
21st April 2025, 11:32
The amount of FIA employees that quit because of MbS and his autocratic rule is telling enough.
As is the thumbsdown that Luca Montezemelo gave MbS in Bahrain.
Dracae
21st April 2025, 21:58
Ok, I can’t tell if Verstappen deserved the penalty, but despite being a fan I think we all know he is not some innocent victim generally. Verstappen pushes things and I like that he does, that means he will at times get penalties. Shrug
However, it is telling how the growing criticism towards FIA and especially it’s president isn’t a partisan subject.
All drivers and teams, as well as many, iff not all in rally seem to agree the restrictions on speech go way to far. These are the 2 major global sports, earners for FIA.
At the same time chances are MBS will be reelected, since he can and does use money generated by these sports to ‘incentivise’ motorsports in a lot of smaller or third world nations that have no stake at all, but they do have a vote. In essence he bribes their officials, without doing anything illegal. A practice also often seen with FIFA and the IOC.
Let’s be clear, while Ecclestone and some other firmer FIA bigg wiggs weren’t without scandalous behaviour,v MBS is absolutely, unequivocally the worst thing that ever happened to F1!
He is a dictator, an autocrat, who brushes aside all democratic norms, conventions and tradition, while not fitting within the ‘western’ culture of the sport!
Not much we, fans, can do…but let’s arleast speak out and do do often!