Max Verstappen started the race in Jeddah from pole position, but Oscar Piastri quickly challenged him going into the first corner. As they entered Turn 1, Piastri was on the inside, and Verstappen ran wide, cutting across the inside of Turn 2. He rejoined the track still in the lead, but the stewards decided he had gained an advantage by leaving the circuit.

Verstappen argued that Piastri had pushed him off the track, but the stewards saw it differently. They believed that Piastri had the right to the corner and that Verstappen should have left space. Because of this, Verstappen was given a five-second time penalty. He served this penalty during his pit stop, and it ended up costing him the win as Piastri passed him later in the race.

The FIA later explained that Verstappen was lucky not to receive a harsher punishment. Normally, such a move would result in a 10-second penalty, but since it happened on the opening lap, the stewards decided to be more lenient. Verstappen also avoided receiving penalty points on his licence, which would have been a problem as he already has 8 out of 12.

READ MORE: Why Max Verstappen received a penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The stewards' report read: "The Stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry and in-car video evidence and determined that car 81 had its front axle at least alongside the mirror of Car 1 prior to and at the apex of corner 1 when trying to overtake Car 1 on the inside. 

"In fact, Car 81 was alongside Car 1 at the apex. Based on the Driver’s Standards Guidelines, it was therefore Car 81’s corner and he was entitled to be given room. Car 1 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 5 second time penalty instead."

Interestingly, Liam Lawson was given a 10-second penalty later in the race for doing almost the same thing while fighting with Jack Doohan at the same corner. The stewards judged Lawson’s move more harshly, showing that the opening lap is often treated differently in terms of racing incidents.