🇦🇺PIA X 🇳🇱SEE
The battle at turn 1 of the Saudi Arabian GP is paying off...
Driver against driver, team boss against boss (with photos and everything) and social media like🔥
So I got the perspective of EVERYONE INVOLVED and brought it to you!
WHAT HAPPENED?
PIA (P2 on the grid) starts better than VER (pole) and they arrive together at the 1st corner. PIA on the inside.
VER is unable to make the 2nd corner and uses the run-off area
The FIA punishes VER because it believes he used the outside of the track and gained an advantage
THE FIA'S DECISION⚠️
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The FIA determined that PIA was side by side with VER at the apex of the first corner
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Therefore, PIA had priority for the corner, and VER should have given him space
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This means, according to the FIA's view, that VER could not use the excuse of having been thrown off the track, since he did not have priority for the corner
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The FIA said that this type of infraction usually generates a 10s penalty, but that it overlooked it and gave 5s because it was a situation in turn 1 of lap 1 (when incidents are more common)
F1 VIEWPOINT🔍
1 - Piastri had a better reaction time than Verstappen — he was 0.14s faster from 0 to 100 km/h and 0.11s faster from 100 to 200 km/h, which allowed him to get ahead at Turn 1.
Verstappen, who was alongside but slightly behind, can be seen releasing the brakes, as can Piastri.
2 - At the apex of Turn 1, Verstappen released the brakes completely and tried to pass Piastri on the outside, but ran out of space on the track, as Piastri was also already on the outside edge of the corner.
Verstappen was 6 km/h faster than Piastri at this corner.
- In a deeper analysis, comparing the Q3 lap on soft tyres with the start of the race on medium tyres, even with sub-optimal tyre temperatures and the car heavier due to fuel, Verstappen was still around 4km/h faster through Turn 1 during the race than on his fast lap in qualifying.
WHAT DID MAX SAY?
Verstappen said over the radio that he was pushed out by Piastri
"He never intended to take the corner"
WHAT DID PIASTRI SAY?
More or less the same thing as his rival:
"He would never have been able to make that turn, with or without me there..."
WHAT DID RED BULL SAY?
Team principal Christian Horner said:
“We have this idea of ‘let them race’... but I don’t know where Max is supposed to go in that first corner.”
Horner later showed photos to reporters in an attempt to prove that Max was ahead at the apex. He also intends to take these and other images to the FIA.
WHAT DID MCLAREN SAY?
The team’s CEO, Zak Brown, saw Verstappen’s penalty as deserved:
“I definitely thought the penalty was deserved. Oscar had a better start and was clearly on the inside and, you know, you have to use the race track”