23/04/2025 17:30
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is unwavering in his view of
Oscar Piastri's first-corner overtake on Max Verstappen at the
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Australian's strong launch off the
line at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit allowed him to position his
MCL39 up the inside of the Red Bull, getting his nose alongside
through the apex and subsequently claiming the corner. Verstappen
feathered off the brake pedal to fight the corner and had to take
to the run-off area on the outside of Turn 1 to preserve his lead
after Piastri pushed him wide. The Dutchman quickly came on the
team radio, saying: "There was no intention of his to take that
corner." Except the McLaren driver did make the corner, and
Verstappen would not have done so regardless. Thus, it nullified
his right to complain, and the stewards intervened, handing down a
race-defining five-second time penalty. Had he given the place
back, it would have prevented any punishment. Red Bull, aggrieved
by the situation for feeling like its driver acted fairly,
confirmed post-race it would not contest the penalty, on the
grounds that the team had no new evidence to offer. Article
continues below No expected controversy Whilst sympathetic to the
Milton Keynes squad's plight, Stella maintained Piastri acted
fairly and was within his rights to claim the corner as he did. In
doing so, he lent on a recent comparison to make his case. "The
situation in corner one was very close, in fairness," the Italian
told media including RacingNews365 . "But this is a business of
close, small margins. "This time, Oscar, thanks to a very good
launch off the grid and thanks to positioning the car on the
inside, slightly ahead of Max, managing to keep the car within the
track limits, then he gained the rights. "And obviously, in that
situation, you can't overtake off track. So I think the case is
very clear, and like we did with Lando in Bahrain. "You may
remember that we realised that we overtook Hamilton off the track,
even if - kind of - Hamilton drove us off the track. "But once
again, it's Lewis Hamilton. He knows how to race. For us, we just
needed to instruct the driver to give the position back." In
Stella's view, there was no case for contentious rhetoric after the
grand prix because of how clear-cut the incident was. "So I think
this is a clear case," the 54-year-old added. "It shouldn't create
any polemic. "And if anything, I want to take the opportunity to
emphasise how well Oscar is racing. It's clean racing, it's tough
racing and extremely precise."
