Max Verstappen is on the verge of a one-race ban in Formula One after he received three more penalty points to his FIA super license for clashing with George Russell in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen collided with Russell in the closing stages of the race in Barcelona after being instructed to give the position up to the Mercedes driver. They initially clashed at the track’s first corner following a safety car restart. Russell dived in late, they touched, and Verstappen went off track but critically stayed ahead.
No action was ultimately taken on what happened at the first corner. But, apparently in anticipation that a penalty would be coming, Red Bull ordered Verstappen to drop behind Russell.
When he let the Mercedes by, Verstappen then made further contact and was handed a 10-second time penalty at the very end of the race for causing the second collision with Russell, dropping the reigning world champion from fifth to 10th in the final classification.
The fuller ruling by the F1 race officials added three penalty points to Verstappen’s super license, essentially an F1 driving license, taking the Dutchman to 11 penalty points in the last year. Any driver who hits 12 penalty points in 12 months is subject to an automatic one-race ban.
The rule has only been enforced once, occurring last year when Haas driver Kevin Magnussen had to miss the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for accruing too many penalty points.
Verstappen will not lose any of the previous points accrued until after the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June, meaning he must get through two race weekends with a clean docket or face being sidelined for one race.
The stewards said in their ruling that Verstappen was “clearly unhappy” about being told to give the position back to Russell, and then “suddenly accelerated” after giving up the position to the Mercedes car, causing the collision. “The collision was undoubtedly caused by the actions of Car 1,” said the stewards, referring to Verstappen. “We therefore imposed a 10-second time penalty on Car 1.”
Speaking prior to news of the penalty points, Verstappen was reluctant to talk to reporters about the incident, saying it was “better to just focus on the race, which was quite OK up until the safety car.” He then said he thought what happened was as “a misjudgment.”
Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Russell said he was surprised by Verstappen’s move and that it “felt deliberate” in the moment. “Max is such an amazing driver and so many people look up to him, it’s just a shame things like that continue to occur,” Russell said. “It’s totally unnecessary and it never seems to benefit himself.”
When Russell said he was concerned what young children would think watching Verstappen’s moves on the track, the Dutchman replied: “OK, well, I’ll bring some tissues next time.”
In the event that Verstappen were to be banned for a race, his penalty slate would be wiped clean and Red Bull would be required to find another driver to fill his seat for that race weekend.
This season you can get closer to the F1 action by joining The Athletic’s Formula 1 WhatsApp channel. Click here to join or search for The Athletic | F1 on your WhatsApp.
Analysis
By Madeline Coleman
When looking at the penalty points Verstappen has received over the last 12 months, it is clear he faces an uphill battle to avoid a race ban.
He’ll need to navigate a clean Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix before we reach June 30, when two penalty points will drop off of his tally — those points stemming from the Lando Norris collision last year in Austria.
The Dutchman received a run of penalty points towards the end of last season, starting at the Mexico City GP. He had two penalty points in late October for forcing Norris off of the track, which came during the title battle that Verstappen later won in Las Vegas in mid-November. One more penalty point came Verstappen’s way during the Brazil GP weekend, for being under the minimum virtual safety car delta time, and another occurred in Qatar for driving slowly during the cooldown lap. To close out the season, his collision with Oscar Piastri during the Abu Dhabi GP resulted in two penalty points.
The penalty point system, which is at the discretion of the stewards, was first introduced in 2014. There can be a variety of reasons why drivers are penalized.
A majority of Magnussen’s penalties came from collisions with other drivers, while Verstappen’s tally is more of a mix, though leaning more toward incidents involving other drivers.
It comes down to what the Dutchman does in the heat of the moment as he endures a trickier season than in past years with the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri fighting for the championship.
(Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
