Ex-engineer calls for tougher penalty on Verstappen

Collins believes that Verstappen's penalty for his first-lap incident at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was completely justified. According to the stewards, Verstappen went off track and gained an advantage.

Collins said that she knows the reason that the penalty was five seconds instead of 10 was because it was on the first lap, but she also questions: "Was five seconds enough to mitigate the advantage of where I started from? And equally here, if Verstappen's car being fast enough to drive off into the distance, the five seconds wasn't equivalent to giving up his back."

Collins also noted that while Verstappen ended up losing his position to Piastri after serving his penalty, that this was usually not the case. The analyst pointed out that the car in front has more advantages such as clear air. The tyres in the front often have less wear as well.

Collins continued, saying that she believes it does not matter where the incident occurs. "So I do question the leniency. I know that that's been agreed, but I do question the leniency just because it's lap one and I don't think the five seconds was enough."

This article was written in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen.