Max Verstappen has apologized to Oscar Piastri following their collision at Turn 1 during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, despite disagreeing with the subsequent penalty he received for the incident.

The incident occurred when Verstappen, after a strong start and passing Carlos Sainz, attempted an inside move on Piastri at the first corner. Despite taking the inside curb, Verstappen wasn't fully alongside and made contact with Piastri, causing both cars to spin, with the McLaren driver relegated to the back of the field.

"I quickly realized, once I committed to it, that the gap was closing and I wanted to try and get out of it," Verstappen explained. "Unfortunately we still clipped each other, but I already apologized to Oscar. He's a great guy, and it's not what you want to happen."

While Verstappen accepted responsibility for the collision, he questioned the 10-second time penalty he received. The Dutch driver emphasized that his primary concern was making amends with Piastri, stating: "The most important thing is that I apologize to Oscar. I have nothing to gain, nothing to lose. He's a friend of mine, so I don't want to have any weird feelings going into the break."

Verstappen also acknowledged the challenges of spatial awareness in such situations, explaining that when starting from the front positions, drivers typically focus on what's ahead rather than behind. He suggested the incident might warrant discussion about penalty consistency in future races.

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