Max Verstappen echoes Jack Nicholson over first corner penalty, as he declares: "People can't handle the full truth!"
The four-time world champion was incensed at the penalty that in many ways decided the race, but fearing he might swear or say something that might see him hauled in front of the FIA again, he attempted to maintain his silence.
Questioned by David Coulthard on track immediately after race end, the Dutchman, when asked about the penalty, said: "Yeah, I'm going keep it quite short... 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."
Grabbed shortly after by Sky F1, he was still saying little.
"To be honest, I think any words towards that, is just a waste of time for everyone," he said.
Pushed a little herder, he added: "We talked about it a lot, and last year, this year, are different kind of rules, so that's also not the problem. But honestly, this is also not my problem, to be honest."
At the subsequent FIA press conference, he said: "Yeah... the start happened. Turn 1 happened, and suddenly it was Lap 50. It just all went super-fast.
"The problem is that I cannot share my opinion about it, because I might get penalised also," he continued. "So it's better not to speak about it."
Asked if his reticence in commenting was due to the new regulations that forbid "any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA", he said: "I know I cannot swear in here, but at the same time, you also can't be critical in any form that might 'harm' or '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."
The Dutchman added quotes being used out of context on social media were another reason he was unwilling to talk about the incident, at least in public.
"I think it's just the world we live in," he said. "You can't share fully your opinion, because it's not appreciated, apparently. Or people can't handle the full truth.
"For me, honestly, it's better if I don't say too much. It also saves my time. Because we already have to do so much. It's honestly just how everything is becoming, everyone is super-sensitive about everything. And of course, what we have currently, like we cannot be critical anyway. So that's fine. Less talking, even better for me.
"It just has to do with social media in general, and how the world is. I prefer not to talk. Or not a lot, because sometimes your words can be twisted or people interpret it in different ways. It's honestly better not to say too much. So that's what I'm trying to do."
However, team boss Christian Horner and Helmut Marko were only too willing to comment.
"When you look at that, I can't see how they got to that conclusion," said Horner, referring to pictures of the start. "They've both gone in at the same speed, Oscar's run deep into the corner, Max can't just disappear at this point in time, so perhaps these rules need a look at.
"I don't know what happened to 'let them race on the first lap', that just seemed to have been abandoned," he added. "I thought it was very harsh."
Minded that the penalty could have been avoided by ordering Verstappen to yield the position, Horner said: "We didn't concede the position because we didn't believe that he'd done anything wrong.
"You can quite clearly see at the apex of the corner," he continued, "we believe that Max is clearly ahead. The rules of engagement they discussed previously and it was a very harsh decision.
"If we'd have given it up, the problem is you then obviously run in the dirty air as well. You could have dropped back behind, the problem is you then are at risk with George as well. The best thing to do was at that point, we got the penalty, get your head down, keep going.
"I think what was a great shame today was that you can see our pace versus certainly the McLarens or all other cars in that first stint on the medium, we were in good shape," he added. "We had to serve the five-second penalty and thereafter on the same basic stint as Oscar, he finished 2.6 seconds behind, so without that five-second penalty today, it would have been a win.
"There's always going to be a difference of opinion over a very marginal decision like that," he admitted.
"The race was lost at the start," Helmut Marko told Sky Germany. "Really, where was Max supposed to go? We watched the Formula 2 races, and the same thing happened to two or three drivers. They were only given warnings. So in our view, the five-second penalty was a bit harsh, the inconsistency in stewarding is difficult to understand.
"Yes, Piastri was ahead at the start," he continued, "but at the very last braking zone, Max was slightly ahead again.
"But it is what it is. The positive is we had the pace, tyre wear was under control. But once again, you could see just how difficult overtaking is. After the penalty, we focused on securing P2."
Again, without the penalty, Marko is confident that Verstappen would have won.
"You could see it. He pulled a three-second gap early on. Piastri was already complaining about tyre degradation. When you're following another car, it's always tougher. And on the second stint with the hard tyres, when Max really pushed to the limit, we were closing in again.
"If someone had told us on Friday that we'd finish second, we'd have celebrated," he subsequently told ORF. "But the car changes were so effective that we're obviously a bit deflated not to bring home the win. Still, we showed we've got the speed and tire wear under control - that gives us confidence moving forward."
Asked \bout the 12-point deficit to Piastri, the Austrian said: "That's not alarming. I remember with Vettel we once had a 40-point gap and still won the title. The fighting spirit is alive, and we know where the weaknesses are. Eventually, the technical fixes will pay off."
He also believes the intra-team battle at McLaren will play to Verstappen's advantage.
"We'd prefer if they have alternate wins, it means they're taking points from each other. I don't think either of them is going to play second fiddle. That's a big opportunity for us if they start battling each other."
And at McLaren...
"Once I got on the inside, I wasn't coming out of Turn 1 in second," admitted Piastri. "I tried my best, obviously the stewards had to get involved but I thought I was plenty far enough up.
"In the end, that's what got me the race, so I'm very happy with all the work we've been doing."
"It probably would have been better for everyone if they'd swapped positions," added Zak Brown. "I definitely thought a penalty was deserved. Oscar was clearly up the inside, he got a better start and you need to use the race track.
"Whether it's a five-second penalty or give the position back, I think you could go either way, but I thought it was definitely appropriate, it was Oscar's corner, and at some point you gotta just concede."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Jeddah here.
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