Red Bull's former sporting director-turned Stake team principal Jonathan Wheatley has hinted the team made a mistake in not getting Max Verstappen to cede the lead in the Saudi Arabian GP.
Verstappen cut across the run-off at Turn 1 on the first lap after Oscar Piastri forced himself up the inside to nab the apex - leaving the Red Bull nowhere to go.
Verstappen was handed a five-second time penalty for the incident, which ultimately cost him the race after finishing 2.7s behind Piastri at the flag.
The Dutchman was short in words post-race describing the incident, with boss Christian Horner also providing what he felt was 'photo evidence' that the RB21 was ahead at the apex.
Wheatley was the long-term rules guru for Red Bull, and was instrumental n handling the controversial 2021 Saudi Arabian GP when Verstappen cut across the same run-off area when battling Lewis Hamilton for the lead.
Verstappen was told to give the place back to Hamilton in that race, with Wheatley indicating that if he was still on the Red Bull pit-wall, he would have instructed something similar.
"Oh, I know what my thoughts were," Wheatley told media, including RacingNews365, when asked for his opinion.
"I mean, I would have done something different, I would have advised to do something differently, I think that was probably the best thing.
"I don't want anyone commenting on what we would do as a team, I don't want to comment on what other people would do, but I think in our team, we would have handled it differently, and certainly had a conversation about doing things differently.
"It was a little bit the other way around, but it was like Turn 12 [between Verstappen and Lando Norris] in Texas last year."
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