Brundle rejects Verstappen claim after needless risk

Martin Brundle has dismissed Max Verstappen’s suggestion that he was alongside Oscar Piastri when the two made contact in the first corner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 

The Dutchman was handed a 10-second time penalty by the stewards for the incident, something that he took umbrage with over team radio.

Brundle was less than impressed with that reaction, calling the Red Bull driver’s remarks “not fair or smart of him at all”.

Addressing the collision itself, the 65-year-old borrowed from his old F3 rival Ayrton Senna, highlighting and partly dismantling a now-infamous racing adage to argue that Verstappen’s launch up the inside of the Australian was a needless risk.

Piastri’s later mistakes aside, It left McLaren in a vulnerable and precarious position, with Lando Norris isolated out front against Carlos Sainz as Charles Leclerc recovered to the podium places behind.

Whilst the British driver ultimately had everything in hand, had he lost the lead to the Spaniard, that alone would have been enough to hand the constructors’ championship to Ferrari, underlining how costly Verstappen’s mistake could have been for Piastri and McLaren.

“McLaren needed all their experience and calm when at the very first corner of the race Max Verstappen sliced his Red Bull up the inside second-place man [Oscar] Piastri and they made contact, both heavily losing out with Piastri falling to the very back,” Brundle wrote for Sky Sports F1.

“Verstappen claimed he was fully alongside, but he wasn’t. Perhaps Piastri could have left a bit more space, but I doubt he saw the late lunge.

“Ayrton Senna famously said that if you don’t go for a gap you’re no longer a racing driver, but Max really didn’t need to take that 50/50 risk for either of them.

“After he received a 10-second penalty, angry Max in the car called the stewards “stupid idiots” which is not fair or smart of him at all, but calmer Max after the race went to apologise to Oscar and McLaren.”