‘Dangerous’ Max Verstappen theory shared that led to Oscar Piastri’s race-changing British Grand Prix penalty

Follow us on Google Discover

Max Verstappen recovered an acceptable result from a bit of a disaster day at the British Grand Prix after struggling with his Red Bull car.

The Dutchman spun after the third safety car while under little pressure, but complained about the setup of his RB21 all afternoon.

Verstappen’s fifth place helps him extend his advantage in third place in the drivers’ championship with just one race left before the summer break.

It now seems pretty certain that Red Bull will not compete for either title this year and will be in a better position by focusing their efforts on the 2026 F1 regulations early.

Red Bull have one ‘killer’ problem and dealt with some extreme understeer at Silverstone, but they had angled their car to run quickly in a straight line. That should have been expected.

Verstappen and Red Bull made a ‘last resort’ change to try and find a better balance with their car, but it didn’t work. Perhaps they didn’t predict as much rain as arrived on Sunday.

READ MORE: Jenson Button has mind blown by Max Verstappen moment he couldn’t ‘comprehend’ at the British Grand Prix

Sam Bird has one ‘dangerous’ Max Verstappen theory for Oscar Piastri penalty

Verstappen may be forced to consider a Red Bull u-turn after it was reported that they are far away from addressing some of their power unit issues for 2026.

He has been strongly linked to a move to Mercedes, but the controversy this weekend was surrounding a move that Oscar Piastri pulled under safety car, which led the reigning champion to overtake him.

Verstappen felt that Piastri had given the illusion that he was going to get back to racing speeds before braking heavily. The stewards agreed and gave him a 10-second time penalty, and Sam Bird has an intriguing theory for it all.

“The main thing is, Oscar was in complete control of his car, [he] was in a straight line,” he told BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast.

“Max is so good, that he saw an opportunity there and thought, ‘Do you know what? If I make it look like this was dangerous,’ Max is able to process things very, very quickly. ‘I don’t have the car to win this weekend, I don’t have the car, but if I can get them a penalty.’

“Like what he did in Canada with George, he pushed the FIA to look into it. Here, he’s pushed the FIA to look into it and give a penalty, however, he’s then made a mistake himself. That’s what we saw up and down the pit lane this weekend.”

READ MORE: F1 fans think Max Verstappen’s engineer just sent ‘cheeky’ message to Toto Wolff in British Grand Prix radio

When will Max Verstappen decide what to do with his Formula 1 future?

Although Verstappen is under contract until the 2028 season, there’s a big regulation change about to arrive which could completely transform the outlook of the grid.

Verstappen is already treating Kimi Antonelli like his teammate, according to Juan Pablo Montoya, which suggests that he may be tempted by a move to Mercedes.

But a decision about that won’t come before the summer break, with one last race at Spa before the four-week stoppage in the middle of the season.

That time will allow the Formula 1 driver market to develop a little more, with final decisions made over driver line-ups in time for the sport’s return at the end of August.

It’s going to be a fascinating period, and expect Verstappen to mull over his future and get close to a decision on what he wants to do for 2026 during that timeframe.