Five-second penalty costs Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia; Oscar Piastri wins the race

A five-second time penalty cost Max Verstappen a victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday. The four-time world champion of Red Bull finished second in Jeddah behind Oscar Piastri. The Australian won his third F1 race of the season in his McLaren.

Piastri took the lead in the season rankings over his teammate Lando Norris, who finished fourth in McLaren. Verstappen is still in third place, as he was prior to the race.

Verstappen was handed the setback shortly after the race began. He started the race in pole position, but Piastri got away quicker in his McLaren and took first place in the first corner. However, Verstappen put his car in front of Piastri’s and cut off the corner.

The Australian demanded that the race authorities order Verstappen to give the first place back to him, but the stewards decided to give Verstappen a time penalty instead.

The Limburger had to take the penalty at his first pit stop, which led to him coming out of the pits behind Piastri and he was unable to catch him after this. The difference was 2.8 seconds in the end.

Charles Leclerc had a strong race in his Ferrari and finished third. British driver George Russell had to make do with a fifth spot in his Mercedes.

The race in Jeddah was a bitter disappointment for Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver hit Pierre Gasly’s Alpine car shortly after the start of the race. His car was too damaged to continue.

Verstappen got everything out of his car after the first corner on the fast track in Jeddah. It took a lot of effort, but he was successful in keeping Piastri behind him every lap before the penalty.

The young Australian had his first pitstop in the 20th lap of the 50 lap long race. Verstappen went for his first pit stop two laps later. He had to wait five seconds before the tires were allowed to be replaced.

The reigning champion came out in fifth and went on the offense to catch Lewis Hamilton. After overtaking the English driver, he went on the hunt to catch Piastri. The Dutch driver tried everything and was able to close the gap in the final rounds, but it was not enough to threaten Piastri.