Max Verstappen was not happy with Formula 1 officials after receiving a ten-second penalty for his crash with Oscar Piastri.
The Red Bull star made contact with the McLaren driver on the first corner of the opening lap in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
Piastri ended up spinning off the track and ended up facing the other way.
Verstappen, meanwhile, managed to keep going.
The Formula One World Champion was handed a 10-second penalty as a result of the collision, though.
And he clearly wasn’t impressed with the steward’s decision for his punishment.
“Can we ask for 20 seconds?” Verstappen was heard saying on his radio.
“Stupid idiots.”
McLaren’s Piastri was also heard dropping a sarcastic dig at Verstappen on his radio after the incident.
“Yep,” he said. “Move of a world champion that one.”
When informed by his team that Verstappen had been handed a 10-second penalty, Piastri responded: “Good.”
Piastri’s car was not majorly damaged in the end aside from minor damage to his front wing.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told Sky Sports: “I think the penalty was appropriate.
“He wasn’t pulling up alongside. Now we’ve got to [focus] on the recovery and Lando [Norris is] looking pretty good in front.”
Martin Brundle was also unimpressed with Verstappen’s move.
The former Formula 1 star said on Sky Sports: “Thinking about that first corner, it was so unfair of Max. He’s not in the Championship.
“He’s won his Driver’s Championship, to pull such a risky move… I know it’s the first lap of a Grand Prix.
“There was a bit of a gap. Piastri perhaps, could of… would he have known he [Max] was going to lunge like that?
“It just wasn’t necessary. And it hasn’t done any good for Verstappen either.”
Piastri’s day got even worse when was handed a 10-second penalty by Racing Control after he was involved in a separate incident with Franco Colapinto.
But it was his teammate’s Lando Norris’ day in the end, as the McLaren driver crossed the line first at the Yas Marina Circuit.
“Next year’s going to be my year too,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton – who was driving his final race for Mercedes before his Ferrari switch – overtook Silver Arrows’ George Russell on the last lap to finish fourth, with Russell in fifth.
Hamilton has now beaten him as a teammate on overall points since Russell joined Mercedes.
Verstappen finished in sixth, while Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc took up the rest of the podium spots.
