Max Verstappen certainty made clear ahead of Canadian GP as F1 race ban looms

Daily Mirror

7 hours ago

Max Verstappen is just one penalty point away from triggering an automatic Formula 1 race ban after he was punished for ramming George Russell on track at the Spanish Grand Prix
Max Verstappen won't change his aggressive driving style despite being on the cusp of a Formula 1 ban. The Red Bull racer is one penalty point away from that punishment after furiously ramming George Russell in Barcelona last Sunday.
But former F1 racer and FIA steward Johnny Herbert is certain that won't deter the Dutchman from going about his business as usual in Canada next weekend. "You've got to think about the penalty point situation, one point can be from very simple error of judgement," he told RoobetAlternatives.
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"That one penalty point from being banned will be on his mind [but] it will not change the way he's driving. For years, Verstappen has been the chased but now he's the chaser, he'll have to be slightly more measured. Those little moments of aggression will have to be controlled."
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Only one F1 driver has ever been banned under the current penalty points system which forbids racers from accumulating a dozen points in a 12-month period – Kevin Magnussen last year. Verstappen is on 11 but two of them will expire at the end of June.
So he'll be walking a tightrope in Montreal and also at Red Bull's home race in Austria in three weeks' time. If he does something to receive a penalty point in Spielberg, then he will be banned for the British Grand Prix in early July.
Ramming an opponent like Verstappen did to Brit Russell in Barcelona is not new to F1. Michael Schumacher did it to Damon Hill in the 1994 title decider, four years after Ayrton Senna had deliberately crashed into rival Alain Prost at Suzuka.
Verstappen got a 10-second penalty for hitting Russell but former FIA steward Herbert thinks he got off lightly. He said: " Max Verstappen deserved a black flag and should have been disqualified. There's a point where you have to be hard on the driver when there have been many of these types of incidents.
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"Verstappen is the best driver on the track, with the best racecraft and judgement, but there is always a story with him. It's usually some kind of racing incident we all end up talking about with Verstappen, unfortunately. It was clear as day that Verstappen's move on George Russell was on purpose.
"He backed out at the right corner, where he could then attack and retake the place by driving into Russell. To me, that's overstepping the mark. I've said it before and I'll say it again until I'm blue in the face, Verstappen doesn't need to make these moves. He has the skill to make clear overtakes.
"A black flag is something that could have been thought of by the stewards and the race director, you have to stop this wheel-banging type of racing. That collision overstepped the mark. I don't want to see it, nor do the drivers. That type of racing should not happen, if it does happen, the penalty should be harsher to stamp it out."