Max Verstappen 'clever message' sent after Saudi Arabian anger

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Max Verstappen "very cleverly" sent a "message" after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

The four-time world champion kept his post-race interviews short after being furious at his five-second time penalty, which cost the Dutchman victory. 

He opted against discussing his opening lap incident with Oscar Piastri, stating to media including RacingNews365 that: "The problem is that I cannot share my opinion about it because I might get penalised also, so it's better not to speak about it."

Verstappen has been punished before for swearing during an official FIA press conference, although drivers can also be punished for criticising motorsport's governing body during interviews.

The reigning world champion was spotted speaking to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem before the podium celebrations, before shaking his hand on the rostrum. 

Despite not speaking for long, Steiner is certain a message was still delivered by Verstappen in a clever manner.

"I think he played it very cleverly, he sent a message without offending anybody," Steiner told the Red Flags podcast. "If he was told not to disparage, so [he] says nothing. 

"If you have nothing good to say, say nothing. He used that one to his advantage. And put it this way, I think he played it very cleverly. 

"So at least he got away with not being critiqued too much, what he should be, what he shouldn't be doing. So, it's one of these things. Obviously, he shook Ben Sulayem's hand on the podium.

"We all saw that one, so I think he cooled down a little bit by then. But obviously he wasn't happy, and I guess he's still not really happy about it. But, you know, it is what it is in the moment."