Red Bull won’t challenge Verstappen’s penalty in Jeddah, despite evidence and doubts over whether he truly gained an unfair advantage.
Red Bull Racing has officially decided not to appeal the five-second penalty given to Max Verstappen during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The penalty, issued for cutting the first corner in his battle with Oscar Piastri, ultimately cost the Dutch driver a chance at victory.
While the team had 96 hours to request a review, Red Bull’s top brass – Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, and Verstappen himself – had already indicated in Jeddah that a protest was unlikely.
Despite disagreeing with the stewards’ decision, the team has chosen to move on. Horner even presented onboard footage and telemetry data to journalists post-race, hoping to highlight Verstappen’s side of the story.
“They jumped on it right away,” said former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos, who was present with Horner, Marko, and Verstappen’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen. “Horner asked someone to print the data, saying, ‘I’m going to make this tough for the FIA.’”
Still, no formal challenge followed.
Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone wasn’t as forgiving. He pointed the finger at Red Bull itself, suggesting the penalty – and the lost win – could’ve been avoided.
“All they had to do was let Piastri back through,” Ecclestone said. “In normal conditions, gaining back five seconds is no easy task.”
Horner defended the call, stating Verstappen was never told to give the position back because the team believed he had done nothing wrong. But Marko admitted there was internal discussion about it – just not for long.
“There wasn’t much talk about giving the place back,” Marko said. “Our FIA liaison noted similar incidents in F2 went unpunished – only warnings were given. Luke Browning, for example, made the same mistake twice and didn’t get a penalty.”
There’s also speculation Red Bull’s public defense of Verstappen may have been more about team politics than principle. With whispers of Verstappen possibly eyeing a move elsewhere in 2026, some believe Red Bull wanted to avoid rocking the boat.
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Red Bull Considered Letting Piastri Pass, But the Penalty Came First Red Bull Considered Letting Piastri Pass, But the Penalty Came First