Max Verstappen should have been hit with a drive-through penalty in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, according to former F1 boss Gian Carlo Minardi.
Verstappen was hit with a five-second time penalty by F1 stewards in Jeddah for passing Oscar Piastri off-track at Turn 1 on lap 1 after he felt the McLaren forced him wide and through the run-off.
As the controversial incident happened on the opening lap, the stewards mitigated Verstappen's penalty, hitting with a five-second sanction compared to the standard 10 seconds. The Dutchman went on to lose the race to Piastri by 2.8s after serving the penalty during his sole pit stop.
Reflecting on the race, Minardi, who ran his eponymous outfit, felt the stewards were far too lenient on the Red Bull driver.
"In Saudi Arabia, we saw a weekend under the banner of McLaren, but especially under the name Oscar Piastri, who forcefully took the number one spot within the team," Minardi began in a post on his own website.
"By taking his third win of the season, he is confirming that he is a complete driver, but Verstappen is always present.
"He was the author of an extraordinary pole position after the difficult weekend in Bahrain, however, I do not agree with the penalty.
"I believe that five seconds are too few considering the advantage obtained by his actions, and also because they came at the start of the race.
"He had plenty of time to recover, crossing the finish line in second place, 2.8s from Piastri. A drive-through would have been more consistent."
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Join RacingNews365's Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen's five-second time penalty is a major talking point, as is Oscar Piastri being a potential match for the Dutchman. Lando Norris' title chances are also explored.
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