Max Verstappen

2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/Formula 1/Max Verstappen

Fake swearing? F1 censored Verstappen calling his penalty “really lovely” · RaceFans

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Max Verstappen has a reputation for making off-colour remarks but Formula One Management appeared to censor one of his radio comments in error yesterday.

The Red Bull driver’s reaction to his five-second time penalty was censored in the live world television broadcast of yesterday’s race. However the original message appears to contain no profanity.

The FIA introduced regulations earlier this year which define swearing as a form of misconduct. However no driver has been penalised for swearing on their radio and Carlos Sainz Jnr avoided a penalty for using a swear word in a press conference earlier this month.

FOM replayed part of Verstappen’s exchange with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase on their television broadcast with one word censored (below). Footage from Verstappen’s onboard channel indicates he sarcastically called his penalty “really lovely.”

Verstappen often uses a similar expression, “simply lovely”, on his radio. He applied to trademark the phrase last year to use it in a line of fashion products.

However Verstappen has tended to use profanity more frequently on his radio than his rivals do, notably in last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem subsequently complained about drivers swearing on their radios, following which Verstappen said FOM should not broadcast it.

F1 has been criticised for allegedly misrepresenting drivers’ radio messages already this year. It denied intentionally omitting a key comment by Lewis Hamilton during the Chinese Grand Prix, which gave the impression he disobeyed an instruction from his team.

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FOM has been approached for comment.

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Verstappen’s radio on TV broadcast

LambiaseInformation, you have been given a five-second time penalty for the incident at turn one. Head down.
VerstappenOh, that is…
LambiaseYeah, Max…
Verstappen…[censored] lovely!
LambiaseYep. Yep. No comment.

Verstappen’s radio from onboard channel

LambiaseGap behind 1.1. Information, you have been given a five-second time penalty for the incident at turn one. Head down.
VerstappenOh, that is…
LambiaseYeah, Max…
Verstappen…really lovely!
LambiaseYep. Yep. No comment.
VerstappenOh don’t worry, I don’t care
LambiaseMode nine.

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2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/Formula 1/Max Verstappen/Oscar Piastri

“I like that” · RaceFans

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Max Verstappen praised Oscar Piastri after the McLaren driver claimed the championship lead in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Piastri scored his third grand prix victory of the season yesterday and moved 10 points clear of team mate Lando Norris at the top of the drivers’ standings. Verstappen is 12 points behind in third.

The Red Bull driver, who is seeking his fifth consecutive championship victory, said he is impressed with Piastri’s performance in his third season in F1.

“Last year was his second year, now he’s in his third year and he’s very solid. He’s very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on-track.

“He delivers when he has to, barely makes mistakes – and that’s what you need when you want to fight for a championship.”

Piastri is the first Australian to lead the world championship since his manager Mark Webber did 15 years ago. Webber led the 2010 standings with three rounds to go before falling to third place.

Verstappen said Piastri has benefited from Webber’s experience. “With Mark by his side, he’s helping him a lot, it’s great.

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“People learn from their own careers – that’s what I had with my dad and Mark is advising Oscar. At the end of the day, Oscar is using his talent, and that’s great to see.”

Piastri beat Verstappen to victory after the Red Bull driver was penalised for going off the track at the first corner to pass the McLaren. The pair were separated by less than three seconds at the finish.

Verstappen said he was encouraged by the performance of his car having finished only sixth in Bahrain a week earlier.

“I was very positively surprised, to be honest, because on Friday it was very, very tough,” he said. “It didn’t matter what I was doing in terms of driving, management, the tyres would just fall off.

“The car was a lot nicer [in the race]. Still limitations, but it was much more promising. And actually, at one point when I started to pull away again, I was quite positively surprised.”

But Verstappen, who won the Japanese Grand Prix a week before Bahrain, said Red Bull’s performance in Jeddah doesn’t prove they’ll be able to consistently challenge McLaren.

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“We have to stay a little bit calm because this track doesn’t have a lot of deg[radation], and we know that when we go to tracks where there’s higher deg, we just struggle more,” he said. “We still need to work on that.

“But the changes that we made already yesterday also worked for today. So I’m very pleased with that.”

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2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

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2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/alexander albon/Andrea Kimi Antonelli/carlos sainz jnr/charles leclerc/Driver of the Weekend/Esteban Ocon/Fernando Alonso/Gabriel Bortoleto/George Russell/Isack Hadjar/Jack Doohan/Lance Stroll/Lando Norris/Lewis Hamilton/Liam Lawson/Max Verstappen/Nico Hulkenberg/Oliver Bearman/Oscar Piastri/Pierre Gasly/Yuki Tsunoda

Vote for your 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix F1 Driver of the Weekend

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Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, 2025


Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend?

It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last three days.

Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Driver performance summary

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Vote for your driver of the weekend

Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?

Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?

Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.

Who was the best driver of the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend?

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Gabriel Bortoleto (0%)
  • Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (16%)
  • Alexander Albon (0%)
  • Yuki Tsunoda (0%)
  • Isack Hadjar (0%)
  • Oliver Bearman (0%)
  • Esteban Ocon (0%)
  • Pierre Gasly (0%)
  • Jack Doohan (0%)
  • Fernando Alonso (0%)
  • Lance Stroll (0%)
  • George Russell (0%)
  • Andrea Kimi Antonelli (0%)
  • Liam Lawson (0%)
  • Max Verstappen (0%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (8%)
  • Charles Leclerc (24%)
  • Oscar Piastri (52%)
  • Lando Norris (0%)

Total Voters: 25

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When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.

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Debates and polls

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2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/Formula 1/Max Verstappen

Verstappen explains silence over Jeddah penalty · RaceFans

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Max Verstappen refused to give his view on the penalty which potentially cost him victory today, and offered several reasons why.

The Red Bull driver served a five-second time penalty in his pit stop for leaving the track at the first corner on lap one and gaining a position from Oscar Piastri. The McLaren driver had moved ahead of him as they accelerated towards the first corner.

Most drivers who committed similar infractions at the first corner gave the position back immediately. Asked in the FIA press conference why he did not, Verstappen replied: “I think it’s better not to talk about it. Anything I say or try to say about it might get me in trouble.”

Following his punishment for swearing in an FIA press conference last year, Verstappen began giving brief answers when attending the governing body’s media engagements. Verstappen said he has also been less forthcoming in his responses because he does not want his views being distorted.

“It has to do with social media in general and how the world is,” said Verstappen. “I prefer not to talk a lot because sometimes your words can be twisted or people interpret it in a different way. It’s honestly better not to say too much. So that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“It’s just the world we live in,” he added when asked to elaborate. “You can’t share your opinion because it’s not appreciated, apparently, or people can’t handle the full truth.

“Honestly, it’s better if I don’t say too much. It also saves my time because we already have to do so much.

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“It’s honestly just how everything is becoming. Everyone is super-sensitive about everything. And what we have currently, we cannot be critical anyway. So less talking [is] even better for me.”

During the off-season the FIA broadened its definition of what constitutes “misconduct” by drivers. It also introduced a new regime of fines and, for multiple offences, suspensions and points deductions.

Verstappen said this is another reason why he was reluctant to discuss the incident.

“I know I cannot swear in here,” he said, “but at the same time, you also can’t be critical in any form that might ‘harm’ or ‘[en]danger’… let me get the sheet out. There’s a lot of lines, you know.

“So that’s why it’s better not to talk about it – you can put yourself in trouble, and I don’t think anyone wants that.”

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2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/Max Verstappen

Verstappen fumes but stewards say penalty could have been twice as severe · RaceFans

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Max Verstappen cut short his post-race interview and refused to discuss the penalty which potentially cost him victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver was given a five-second time penalty for overtaking Oscar Piastri off the track on the first lap of the race.

However the stewards later confirmed he could have been penalised twice as severely.

Verstappen and Piastri shared the front row, the Red Bull driver ahead, but Piastri got away more quickly and drew ahead of his rival as they approached the first corner. While Piastri used the full width of the track at the exit, Verstappen went off and rejoined the track ahead of his rival.

“He needs to give that back,” said Piastri immediately afterwards. “I was ahead.”

Verstappen claimed Piastri “forced me off” and had “no intention of making that corner.” The McLaren driver accused his rival of the same: “He was never going to make that corner regardless of whether I was there or not.”

The stewards came down on Piastri’s side, handing Verstappen a five-second time penalty. “Well that is fucking lovely,” he remarked when told by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who urged him: “No comment.”

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Verstappen was further displeased to be told his off-track excursion had been counted against him. “I thought they wouldn’t count that,” he said. “They literally said that in the briefing.”

He was still unhappy when the race came to an end and refused to discuss the grand prix when asked for his comments for the television broadcast by David Coulthard.

“I’m going to keep it quite short,” he said. “I just want to say a big thank you to the fans here in Jeddah. It’s been a great weekend, I love the track and yeah, the rest is what it is. I’m looking forward to Miami, so I’ll see you there.”

Verstappen, who has criticised the FIA for clamping down on drivers swearing, claimed later he is not allowed to give his point of view on the incident. “I think it’s better we don’t talk about it because we are anyway not allowed to express our opinions on that,” he told the official F1 channel.

The stewards pointed out that ordinarily a driver in Verstappen’s position would have been given a 10-second penalty, but his was reduced because the incident occured at the start.

“The stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry and in-car video evidence and determined that car 81 [Piastri] had its front axle at least alongside the mirror of car one [Verstappen] prior to and at the apex of corner one when trying to overtake car one on the inside,” they explained. “In fact, car 81 was alongside car one at the apex.

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“Based on the [Drivers’] Standards Guidelines, it was therefore car 81’s corner and he was entitled to be given room.

“Car one then left the track and gained a lasting advantage that was not given back. He stayed in front of car 81 and sought to build on the advantage.

“Ordinarily, the baseline penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage is 10 seconds. However, given that this was lap one and turn one incident, we considered that to be a mitigating circumstance and imposed a five-second time penalty instead.”

Liam Lawson was given a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage later in the race.

Pictures: Verstappen passing Piastri off-track on lap one

You say

Was Verstappen’s five-second time penalty for gaining a position off the track correct? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.

Max Verstappen’s penalty for his first-lap incident with Oscar Piastri was:

  • No opinion (0%)
  • Far too lenient (13%)
  • Slightly too lenient (36%)
  • Correct (40%)
  • Slightly too harsh (4%)
  • Far too harsh (7%)

Total Voters: 55

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2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/Formula 1/Max Verstappen/Oscar Piastri

Piastri wins and takes championship lead after penalty for Verstappen · RaceFans

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Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and claimed the championship lead for the first time in his career.

The McLaren driver won from second on the grid, moving ahead of Max Verstappen when the pole-winner was penalised for leaving the track to re-pass Piastri at the start. Piastri got off the line more quickly than the Red Bull driver and nosed ahead of him approaching the first corner, only for Verstappen to cut it and rejoin the track ahead.

Verstappen’s penalty was announced soon afterwards but he did not have to serve it until he made his only pit stop of the race. Piastri came in before him, and despite having to pick his way past Lewis Hamilton, easily had enough time in hand to claim the lead.

They finished in that order, with Charles Leclerc claiming Ferrari’s first podium finish of the season in third place. He resisted a late charge by Lando Norris, who rose from 10th on the grid to finish fourth, after taking three laps to find a way past Hamilton early on.

George Russell started third but was unable to challenge the leaders and fell back to fifth. He was concerned about the state of his tyres in the final laps, but took the chequered flag ahead of his team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Hamilton came seventh behind the driver who took over his Mercedes seat. The final points-scoring positions were occupied by the Williams drivers, Carlos Sainz Jnr ahead of Alexander Albon, and Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls, the trio flying in close formation.

Liam Lawson crossed the line in 11th place but fell behind Fernando Alonso after collecting a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The Haas pair were next, Oliver Bearman ahead of Esteban Ocon after the pair were told to swap places.

Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were the race’s only retirements after colliding on the first lap of the race, which triggered a brief Safety Car period.

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2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/Formula 1/Max Verstappen/Red Bull

Second pole shows Red Bull is “competitive” when we get it right

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Max Verstappen says his second pole position of the season shows his Red Bull can be competitive when they get the set-up right on a track that suits it.

He beat Oscar Piastri to pole position by just one hundredth of a second in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Verstappen was two tenths of a second off McLaren’s pace in yesterday’s second practice session. That deficit grew in the hot conditions of final practice but once the track temperatures cooled again Verstappen’s Red Bull was much more competitive.

“I felt immediately more confident when I headed into qualifying,” he said. “We made some minor changes to the car, but they were clearly big enough to feel.

“That’s a bit the story of our car. It can be really hit-and-miss. When we get it right, I think it’s competitive, of course. But when we don’t get it right it’s a lot more difficult.”

He went quickest in Q1 and was only four hundredths of a second off Lando Norris’s fastest time in Q2. After Q3 was disrupted by Norris’s crash, Verstappen did two runs at the end of the session and narrowly beat Piastri in the remaining McLaren to pole position.

“All of qualifying went well,” said Verstappen. “Around here, I think it’s always important to have quite a bit of rhythm, so naturally you do quite a lot of laps. The tyres, luckily, hold on to do that.

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“Of course then the red flag in Q3 is not ideal, but everyone has to deal with that. So we opted for that two-lap strategy, and I’m happy that we did that. It just kept me on top of things, and it felt good.”

Having been half a second off Piastri’s pole-winning time in Bahrain a week ago, Verstappen said the Red Bull is more competitive at Jeddah because the track has “a few more high-speed corners and the Tarmac is completely different, which has a big influence on the tyres as well.”

“When you have tracks where you need a lot of rotation mid-corner, and long-duration corners, which you have in Bahrain, that’s a big problem for us.

“Here, it just seems to be a little bit more competitive. I’m not saying that it’s solved, but at least it gave me an opportunity to push a bit better and deal with the limitations that we have a bit better.”

Running two laps after the red flag at the end of qualifying, when most other drivers only did one, gave him more of an opportunity to get a feel for the track conditions.

“At the end of the day, you just need to try and have a clean lap, try to be on the limit,” he said. “But around here, honestly, it’s super-hard because at some corners you want to try and be super-close to the wall. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.

“Braking into [turn] 22 is very bumpy, so you don’t even see where you’re going when you turn in. So it’s very hard to get everything right. But clearly, it was good enough – and of course in Q3 you risk everything a bit more.”

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2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/Lando Norris/Max Verstappen/Oscar Piastri/Qualifying reports

Verstappen denies Piastri for pole after heavy crash for Norris · F1 · RaceFans

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Max Verstappen will start the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole position after narrowly beating Oscar Piastri in qualifying.

Red Bull claimed pole position for the fourth year in a row at Jeddah.

However championship leader Lando Norris will start down in 10th after crashing in the final phase of qualifying.

Q1

Despite Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber spinning in front of him at turn one late in the session, Max Verstappen headed the times at the end of Q1. He displaced the two McLaren drivers who spent most of the first phase of qualifying trading fastest times.

They didn’t have to worry about elimination in the first round, but the fight for survival was as intense as ever. Lewis Hamilton, enduring a difficult weekend in his Ferrari, had to resort to another set of fresh soft tyres in order to ensure he progressed to the next phase.

Pierre Gasly had a couple of scares as he made the cut. His team sent him out of the garage for his final run before they’d fully removed the tyre blanket from his right-front. It became tangled around his wheel and had to be yanked free by a mechanic. Once on the track the first practice pace-setter clipped the wall at the final corner but kept his foot in to secure a place in Q2.

It came at the expense of his team mate, however. Jack Doohan slipped to 17th behind Lance Stroll, who also went no further while his team mate progressed. Fernando Alonso used the slipstream from Doohan’s car to set himself up for a flying start to his lap.

Esteban Ocon was slower than team mate Oliver Barman from their first laps and dropped out in 19th between the two Saubers, Bortoleto slowest of all after his spin. The Racing Bulls pair were the last drivers to make the cut. Isack Hadjar having also touched the turn 27 wall.

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Q1 result

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Q2

Verstappen beat Piastri’s first effort in qualifying, and though Norris beat them both he needed a slipstream from his team mate to do it. The Red Bull driver suffered a heavy kerb strike between turns four and five, and urged his team to check for damage.

Russell took up fourth to begin with ahead of Leclerc, followed by Tsunoda and Hamilton. Sainz was eighth after the first runs but he too had taken a slipstream from his team mate.

As the final runs began Gasly, Bearman, Alonso and the Racing Bulls pair were in the drop zone. Of those, only Gasly managed to escape the bottom five with his final run, as Albon paid the price of being one of the first to set his final time.

Hamilton and Tsunoda needed their final laps to ensure they progressed to Q2. The Ferrari driver made it in narrowly by just seven thousandths of a second from Albon’s Williams.

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Q2 result

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Q3

Q3 was only running long enough for Piastri to set the fastest time when it was red-flagged – and the cause was his team mate.

While Piastri was approaching the final corner, Norris had run too deep into turn four, thumped across the kerb and slid into the barrier. He reported he was unhurt, but the left-hand side of his MCL39 was extensively damaged and his qualifying session was over. “Fucking idiot,” he cursed.

When the session resumed, Verstappen and Sainz made sure they got banker laps in, heading out immediately to start a run. It paid off for Verstappen as he snatched the fastest time away from Piastri by a thousandth of a second, despite complaining of low grip at the first corner. “The tyres were not ready,” race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase advised.

Verstappen then dashed back into the pits for a fresh set of rubber. Meanwhile the rest of the drivers had joined the track.

By the time Verstappen came back around to finish his final lap, he was down to third place. Russell had produced another strong lap to lay his claim to pole position, only to see Piastri beat it. Verstappen lost a little time in the middle of the lap but claimed it back at the end, snatching pole away from Piastri by just a hundredth of a second.

Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari fourth while Andrea Kimi Antonelli ensured both Mercedes will start in the top five. Hamilton salvaged seventh but was out-qualified by the driver he replaced at Ferrari, Sainz, in his Williams. Norris stands to line up 10th behind Tsunoda and Gasly.

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Q3 result

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2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/Lando Norris/Max Verstappen/Practice reports/Yuki Tsunoda

Norris leads McLaren one-two, Verstappen third as Tsunoda crashes · RaceFans

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Lando Norris led a McLaren one-two in the second practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, lapping within a second of last year’s pole position time.

Max Verstappen put Red Bull second-fastest among the teams, having briefly set the fastest time before it was beaten by the two McLaren drivers.

His team mate Yuki Tsunoda was four tenths of a second behind him in sixth place. However he ended his session early after crashing.

Tsunoda clipped the barrier on the inside of the final corner, which sent his RB21 into the wall on the outside. The car was heavily damaged in the crash, which was heavy enough for the Medical Car to be deployed, but Tsunoda told his team he was unhurt as he climbed out.

The session was therefore red-flagged for most of the final seven minutes before being restarted with a minute to go. All the remaining drivers bar Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar emerged in order to be able to perform practice starts.

Charles Leclerc was fourth-fastest for Ferrari, but did several laps on his set of soft tyres before finally setting a time. His team mate Lewis Hamilton was only 13th, 1.1 seconds off the pace, and also incurred the wrath of the stewards.

Hamilton badly held up Alexander Albon early in the session, prompting an angry reaction from the Williams driver. The stewards announced they will investigate it.

Carlos Sainz Jnr set the fifth-fastest time ahead of Tsunoda, followed by George Russell in the first of the Mercedes. Pierre Gasly, who was fastest in first practice, fell to eighth in this session, complaining about his braking performance at one stage.

Nico Hulkenberg took ninth in the only Sauber to appear during the session. His team mate Gabriel Bortoleto was unable to take part as Sauber discovered a fuel leak on his car following first practice and had to dismantle it to investigate the cause. Alexander Albon completed the top 10.

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2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Grand Prix second practice result

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2025 F1 season/2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix/Aston Martin/Christian Horner/Formula 1/Max Verstappen

Verstappen not leaving says Horner amid rumoured $300m bid by Aston Martin · RaceFans

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Max Verstappen will continue to drive for Red Bull next year, team principal Christian Horner has stated following rumours of a lucrative offer from Aston Martin.

Red Bull is facing further speculation over their star driver’s future after he fell to third place in the championship at the previous round. The team’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko last week claimed Verstappen could exploit an exit clause in his contract if he is not inside the top three by the summer break in August.

Asked whether Marko’s claim was true, Horner said: “I think ‘noise’ is exactly the right word to describe it.”

“There’s been a lot of noise outside of the team,” he told Sky. “Inside the team, I think Max again reaffirmed his commitment yesterday.”

Horner said Verstappen will “absolutely” continue to drive for Red Bull in 2026.

Verstappen’s dissatisfaction with the team’s dip in performance last year prompted claims he could move to a rival team before his current deal with Red Bull ends in 2028. The first rumours of an approach from Aston Martin emerged earlier this year.

Today La Gazzetta dello Sport claimed Aston Martin has offered Verstappen a three-year deal worth $300 million (£226m). The Italian newspaper claimed Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has spent heavily on other sports, intends to buy the team and will finance the bid for the four-times world champion.

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Horner downplayed Marko’s fears Verstappen could leave the team. “People are always going to have their concerns,” he said. “As a team we are very much focused on sorting this car out. Sort the car out, it doesn’t even become a discussion point.”

Verstappen and team mate Yuki Tsunoda ended the first practice session at the bottom of the top 10. Horner said the team had “gone a little radical on some of the set-up,” in that session.

“We’ve got plenty to look at. We ran the cars slightly differently as well, so that we’ve got that information now to digest before the second session.”

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