FIA slammed over 'pathetic' Max Verstappen penalty at Miami Grand Prix

Red Bull F1 star Max Verstappen was hit with a post-race penalty following Sunday's Miami Grand Prix to the disapproval of many.

The four-time champion managed to kick some life into his RB22 last weekend as F1 returned from a five-week enforced break to race in Miami, with Red Bull's upgrades seemingly working as intended.

After qualifying in P2, the 28-year-old joined polesitter Kimi Antonelli on the front row ahead of the fourth grand prix of 2026, recovering from an early spin off the line, somehow managing to keep control of the car in a move that Martin Brundle labelled 'genius'.

Clearly reeling from the early error, the Dutchman then stormed through the midfield, aggressively racing his rivals to make up places.

But after pitting, it was revealed Verstappen's pit stop may have seen him drive over the white line on his pit exit, something that would be a slam dunk penalty if he was found guilty.

But Verstappen was forced to wait until after the race to learn of his fate, something which annoyed much of the commentary team on Sky Sports due to the fact that this kind of penalty is usually decided during the race.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen hit by Miami penalty as Ferrari punished by FIA

F1 pundit criticises Miami penalty decision

The FIA stewards eventually slapped Verstappen with a five-second penalty after determining that his left-front tyre had crossed the white line while exiting the pit lane. This time penalty was added to his finishing time after the chequered flag had been waved.

Following the FIA's penalty decision announcement, Verstappen's compatriot and F1 pundit Olav Mol took to social media to lash out at the stewards over their decision.

The seasoned F1 commentator stated his belief that the penalty for the Red Bull driver was unjustified, implying that the stewards in Florida made a call that simply made no sense.

Mol scrutinised Verstappen’s onboard footage and didn't hold back his criticism of the race stewards.

"If you check the onboard video, you’ll see just how weak this decision is," he remarked on his official 'X' account.

He also shared the FIA’s official document in the post, suggesting the penalty was not warranted. "It seems like the stewards were just looking for something to do," he added.

The renowned Dutch commentator then summarised his thoughts on the FIA's penalty decision, concluding: "a five-second penalty after the fact for nothing at all."

Why did Verstappen's Miami penalty verdict take so long?

The FIA stewards explained in their penalty decision statement that though the incident that triggered the investigation for Verstappen during the 57-lap event, there wasn’t enough clear video evidence available to them during the Miami GP to come to a definitive judgment immediately.

As a result, they opted to postpone the investigation, choosing to instead revisit the incident after the grand prix.

Having then reviewed footage from various angles and onboard cameras, Verstappen testified that he was exiting the pit lane and rejoining the track during a full course yellow.

The additional footage, however, confirmed that his tyre had indeed crossed the uninterrupted white line, with the stewards deciding that this justified the five-second penalty.

However, Ferrari F1 star Charles Leclerc faced an even harsher penalty of 20 seconds, meaning that even after Verstappen's penalty was applied, the Red Bull star's P5 result remained unchanged following the finishing order reshuffle.

MIAMI RESULTS: Final classification with all late penalties applied

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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