"Move of a world champion that one": Oscar Piastri fumes at Max Verstappen for the first lap collision between the two drivers
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri did not seem pleased after Red Bull driver Max Verstappen turned him around on the first lap of the 2024 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday. The four-time F1 world champion got a mega launch off the line starting from P4 and moved up a place after moving ahead of Carlos Sainz.
However, the Dutch driver was overeager and got a bit too greedy as he challenged the Aussie heading into Turn 1. The 27-year-old spotted the gap up the inside of the corner but wasn't fully alongside the two-time race winner.
The contact between Verstappen and Piastri turned both of them around and made them drop positions. While Verstappen slotted himself back in the Top 10, Piastri lost a whole lot of places as he joined the pack at the back. On his team radio, the 23-year-old expressed his frustration over the move and said:
"Move of a world champion that one."
Verstappen was subsequently given a 10-second penalty for the incident which McLaren CEO Zak Brown was in complete agreement with, saying to Sky Sports:
"The penalty is appropriate. He wasn't fully alongside him. Now we are focusing on recovery and Lando is looking good up front. It hasn't helped [the nerves] that's for sure. It doesn't look like we have any damage on the car, nothing major, so we will see how he gets on the hard tires."
F1 pundit gives his take on the Max Verstappen-Oscar Piastri clash in Abu Dhabi
Former F1 driver and pundit Martin Brundle stated that Max Verstappen's move on Oscar Piastri was "unfair" given that it hindered Piastri's chances of helping McLaren win the Constructor's Championship.
On the broadcast, the Sky Sports F1 commentator said:
"It's so unfair of Max wasn't it. They are not in the championship. He's won his championship. To put such a risky move, I know it's the first lap of a Grand Prix, but there was a gap, Piastri would he know he would lunge like that? It just wasn't necessary and hasn't done Verstappen any good either."
With the race ongoing, the Red Bull driver has made his way back into the Top 5 while Oscar Piastri was under investigation for ramming into the back of Franco Colapinto.