The FIA slapped Verstappen with a 10-second penalty for the contact — but the McLaren driver involved also earned a penalty all of his own.
The drama in Abu Dhabi kicked off early. When the lights went out to signal the start of the final race of the F1 2024 season, the gloves came off.
Polesitter Lando Norris nailed the start and launched into the lead with ease, but the same couldn’t be said for fellow frontrunner Oscar Piastri.
From fourth on the grid, Max Verstappen leaped into action and attempted to cut down the inside of Piastri heading into the first turn.
The small gap narrowed almost immediately, and the two drivers made contact.
Verstappen completed a full 360-degree spin and almost instantly began battling his way back up the grid again, but Piastri wasn’t quite so lucky.
He lost control of his McLaren, spun, and could only rejoin at the very back of the grid.
“Yep, move of a World Champion, that one,” Piastri said dryly on the radio after the maneuver.
The Australian racer was pleased to learn that his rival had been slapped with a 10-second penalty as a result of the contact — only to be handed his own 10-second penalty immediately after.
Why? Well, it had nothing to do with the Verstappen contact.
When Piastri rejoined the very rear of the grid, he was obviously keen on climbing through the field as quickly as possible, starting with the folks at the rear of the field.
But the McLaren driver was too keen and collided heavily with the rear of Franco Colapinto, who braked just a little earlier heading into a turn.
It looked as if Piastri escaped the scuffle unscathed, but Colapinto quickly radioed into his Williams team to report a puncture.
Colapinto pulled into the pits for a tire change, and Piastri followed a few laps later.
The McLaren driver was then slapped with the 10-second penalty, with the race stewards citing his contact with the unsuspecting Williams.
Among other penalties assigned in the early stages of the race have gone to Valtteri Bottas, who earned 10 seconds for colliding with the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, and Zhou Guanyu, whose false start earned him a five-second penalty.
