McLaren offers clear opinion on Max Verstappen penalty

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has offered a clear opinion on Max Verstappen's penalty in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

The McLaren boss insisted that the Red Bull driver's five-second time penalty for leaving the circuit and gaining an advantage at the first corners was "definitely appropriate".

Verstappen started on pole with Oscar Piastri alongside him; however, the McLaren driver made a better start and had the edge going into the first corner. 

Piastri stuck to the inside, whilst Verstappen went off the circuit and rejoined in the lead after the second corner. 

The stewards quickly deemed it as a punishable offence, with Verstappen having served the penalty during the pit-stop which allowed Piastri to claim the race lead and, in the end, victory.

Brown had no complaints with the strength of the punishment and deemed it as fair.

"I definitely thought a penalty was deserved," Brown told Sky F1. "Oscar was clearly up the inside, got a better start and you need to use the racetrack. 

"Whether it's a five-second penalty or give the position back, I think you can go either way. So I thought it was definitely appropriate. It was Oscar's corner, and at some point you got to just concede."

Verstappen was unable to battle Piastri after serving his penalty, but maintained strong pace until the end of the race. 

Brown is confident that Red Bull are stronger than many actually believe and is certain the rest of the season will be close.

"Max is an awesome racing driver, and clearly the car [RB21] is very, very good," added Brown. "That was a very competitive race, he's been competitive all weekend. He's won this year. 

"So I think this idea that we were maybe going to make it a bit boring, I don't think we've really had a boring race yet. 

"Mercedes was really strong, obviously fell off there towards the end, but Russell was very quick, as was Leclerc. So I think it's anybody's race, but there's much racing left to go."