Former Red Bull Sporting Director Jonathan Whetley said the Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri Turn 1 clash in the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix resembles a precedent set in Austin last year.
The new Sauber Team Principal was a spectator to Verstappen’s Turn 1, Lap 1 confrontation with eventual Saudi GP winner Oscar Piastri, who got a better launch than the Red Bull polesitter.
In the stewards’ eyes, Piastri claimed the corner and after Verstappen took to the run-off to claim the lead, one he wouldn’t relinquish in the coming laps, they punished the Dutchman with a five-second time penalty.
Wheatley was a mastermind of navigating the race stewards for the benefit of Red Bull over the years and was asked to give his take on last Sunday’s incident.
“Oh I know what my thoughts were! I would have done something different, or advised to do something differently,” he said (via The Race).
“I don’t want anyone commenting on what we would do as a team.
“I don’t want to comment on what other people would do, but in our team, we would have handled it differently, and certainly had a conversation about doing something different.
“It was the other way around, but it was a little bit like Turn 12 in Texas last year. So I think there were some lessons learned from that.”
How Austin 2024 and Jeddah 2025 compare
The situations in Austin and Jeddah are similar in several aspects.
Verstappen, wheel-to-wheel with a McLaren, a car overtakes at the run-off, and gets penalised.
Lando Norris was the unlucky party in that situation, as Verstappen was on the other end of the confrontation that prompted several discussions over racing guidelines.
That was a counterpoint Verstappen provided to Sky Sports F1 last Sunday, whereby he said “We talked about it a lot and last year, this year, different kind of rules so that’s also not the problem, but honestly this is also not my problem.”
The Dutchman added, “Let’s get the paperwork and I’ll say live, whatever. I mean it’s all written down.”
Still, Wheatley argued that these types of situations are never black and white.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen two identical incidents,” he said. “It’s such a dynamic situation, overtaking.
“You’ve got to take into account the tyre compounds. You’ve got to take into account if somebody’s got a run on another driver.
“You’ve got to take into account if a driver’s got DRS or another driver’s got DRS.
“It’s such a dynamic situation and then through all of that and all of the gamesmanship that goes on, you have to pick a braking point.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner engaged in that gamesmanship when he presented screenshots of Verstappen’s approach to Turn 1 in Jeddah to argue his driver’s case.
READ MORE – Why Red Bull didn’t protest ‘harsh’ Max Verstappen penalty in Saudi Arabia
Wheatley has previous with Verstappen in Jeddah
Verstappen often finds himself in these heated confrontations due to his uncompromising approach to wheel-to-wheel combat.
Wheatley knows this only too well, given the heated drama, stewards’ intervention and run-off action between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in Saudi Arabia in 2021 as the title battle rose to incredible tensions.
But behind closed doors, Whetley revealed he’s had conversations with drivers where perhaps compromise could be better solution.
“There have been situations where I’ve had conversations with drivers I’ve worked with, where I’ve said ‘you could have given him another 2cm there and it would’ve made the stewards’ lives a bit easier,’” he explained.
“The stewards have to decide if you’ve left a car’s width or what have you.
“I love that element of the sport and I think the FIA and the drivers have worked really, really hard on the racing rules that we’re working to at the moment.”
Verstappen and Hamilton came to blows several times at Turn 1 back in 2021, using the run-off strategically to gain the upper hand over one another.
The run-off in Austin also allowed for Norris to make the move that got him penalised last year.
Wheatley said such actions a basically an instinct for drivers as he gave his take on the gravel trap debate.
A gravel trap at Turn 1 in Jeddah would solve any issues going forward, but that isn’t something Whetley has considered.
“If there’s gravel there, there’s a slightly different approach,” he said.
“It’s just entirely human. If there’s an opportunity to run off the track and then sort it out later, we’ve seen that before as well.
“I don’t want to be a 20/20 hindsight merchant, but I never really looked at that corner and for instance thought it needed gravel.
“Whereas I always looked at Turn 12 at Austin and thought that needed a solution.”
READ MORE – McLaren: Red Bull should’ve told Max Verstappen to cede lead in F1 Saudi GP
