Max Verstappen backed to ignore former Red Bull guru

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Max Verstappen would have ignored former Red Bull guru Jonathan Wheatley if asked to cede the lead in Saudi Arabia.

Following the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, former Red Bull sporting director-turned Stake F1 team boss Wheatley hinted that he would have handled Verstappen's incident with Oscar Piastri differently. 

Verstappen fought Piastri into the first corner at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit but cut across the chicane after believing he was forced off the track. 

He rejoined the circuit in the lead and failed to return the position to the McLaren driver, resulting in a victory-costing five-second time penalty. 

The four-time world champion was not instructed by Red Bull to fall behind Piastri, a call which if made would have resulted in no penalty being awarded based on previous situations of a similar nature. 

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was adamant after the fifth round of the season that the penalty on the 27-year-old was extremely harsh.

Verstappen fell behind Piastri when serving his penalty, before finishing in a close second behind the Australian. 

When told that Wheatley had hinted he would have instructed Verstappen to return the position, Steiner told the Red Flags podcast: "Yeah, that's sitting on the fence. 

"Because when you're sitting there, you want your driver to win. You need to be with your driver. I mean, and do you think, honestly, Max would have listened to Jonathan Wheatley?

"I mean, I can tell you that answer! It's like he told Crofty, you go and be a journalist. Yeah, focus on that one."

The final sentence is in regard to Verstappen's frosty response to a question from Sky F1 commentator David Croft, who he told: "I think [you] just focus on commentating, I'll focus on driving."