Max Verstappen criticised for repeat offence: 'He always forces the stewards'

Max Verstappen was been lamented by former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer for his on-track conduct during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The F1TV commentator and pundit took exception to the Dutchman's antics at the start of the race, when he cut across the exit of the first corner to prevent being overtaken by the fast-starting Oscar Piastri.

The pair were side-by-side through Turn 1, but as the McLaren driver had the inside line, the corner was his and he was entitled to crowd out Verstappen, so long as he remained on circuit, which he did - even though the four-time drivers' champion argued to the contrary in the heat of the moment.

"He needs to give that back, I was ahead," the Australian himself communicated to the Woking-based squad in the immediate aftermath.

To Palmer, Verstappen's actions were a "hopeless attempt to cling on", as well as reminiscent of his contentious and controversial racing standards at the same corner of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in 2021, when he was battling Lewis Hamilton for his first title.

"And I agree," the former Renault driver said in response Piastri's team radio message during the broadcast. "And I think this is another incident of Verstappen refusing to be past and just going off the corner and staying ahead, if he possibly can.

"We've seen it so many times in the past. We've seen it here in Jeddah before, as well, back in 2021.

"Max always forces the stewards to make a decision rather than [con]cede the place, and Oscar just got a great launch there, and that kind of seemed decisive.

"We'll wait for a replay on it to get a categorical view, but it seemed like Max was never going to have space on the outside there, and it looked like a hopeless attempt to cling on, and he's only done so by cutting the corner."

Palmer: 'It's not fair racing. That's just plain and simple...'

When the replay did arrive, fellow co-commentator David Coulthard talked through the incident, highlighting a potential mitigating factor that could have protected Verstappen from punishment, before confirming he did not feel those circumstances valid in this case.

"He's [Verstappen] behind at the apex," the former Williams, McLaren and Red Bull driver observed.

"And the only saving grace might be: they [the stewards] used to give a little bit of leeway at the start of a grand prix for incidents, given that all the cars are barreling in, in high fuel mode. But I just don't see that on this occasion."

Palmer quickly replied: "It's not fair racing. That's just plain and simple. It's not fair racing from Verstappen [and] he's kept the place."

The officials did ultimately hand the Red Bull driver a five-second time penalty for the incident, which put him back behind Piastri, who went on to win with the Dutchman coming home in second.