Every incident: How Max Verstappen ended up on the brink of an F1 race ban

New York Times

13 hours ago

In 11 months, reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen accrued as many penalty points across six different infringements.
Some of the incidents from last season weren't egregious per se, such as driving unnecessarily slowly in qualifying, while others were a direct result of battling with another driver, including several incidents with Lando Norris. Verstappen's most recent altercation with a rival, though, carried the most penalty points and played out during the recent 2025 Spanish Grand Prix.
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The stewards found Verstappen at fault for causing a collision with George Russell — which Russell at the time said 'felt deliberate' — and handed him a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points to take Verstappen to the perilous point on 11.
But questions were raised by many commentators and fans about whether Verstappen had intentionally crashed into the Mercedes driver and if he should therefore have been disqualified (and here's more on why he wasn't). Verstappen admitted a day later in a social media post that the move 'was not right and shouldn't have happened.'
Penalty points last for 12 months in F1, and so Verstappen's slate won't start clearing until June 30, the day after the Austrian Grand Prix. And even that is just two points falling off, if he navigates clean weekends in Canada and Austria in the coming weeks.
Here's how the Red Bull driver ended up on the brink of a Formula One race ban — and what the stewards had to say about each infringement.
Infringement: Causing a collision
Penalty points: 2
This was the first race weekend Norris and Verstappen truly raced for real — and hard — in F1. Norris made multiple attempts to pass Verstappen for the lead of the Austrian GP but couldn't stick the overtake. Heading into Turn 3 at the Red Bull Ring late on, Norris was on the left of Verstappen, and the Dutchman drifted towards the McLaren, leading to the two colliding. Both suffered damage and headed to the pits, but only Verstappen continued racing, finishing fifth while Norris retired.
The stewards determined that the Red Bull driver was at fault and said the penalty (a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points) was ' in line with precedents.' The incident raised the question of whether such hard racing was over the limit or within accepted bounds, a topic that continued to surface throughout different parts of the 2024 season.
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'It was such a silly little touch that had great consequences for both of us, and a bit more for Lando with how (his) puncture then evolved,' Verstappen later said, a few days removed from the incident. The two had cleared the air by this point.
Infringement: Forcing another driver off track
Penalty points: 2
Norris and Verstappen went head-to-head again in Mexico, a week after their battle in Austin had controversially ended with Norris being penalized. Again, the McLaren driver made a move on Verstappen's outside – first at Turn 4.
According to the evidence reviewed by the stewards, the papaya car was ahead of the Red Bull 'at the entry, apex and towards the exit of the turn when he started being forced off the track.' The two drivers did not have any contact, but Norris had to cut the corner, gaining an advantage as he emerged briefly ahead of eventual race winner Carlos Sainz of Ferrari.
'The Stewards believe that the maneuver was done in a safe and controlled manner and that Norris would have been able to make the maneuver on the track had he not been forced off the track by Verstappen.' Verstappen received a 10-second penalty for this infringement, along with two penalty points.
But a few corners later, he tried to retaliate against Norris, going up the inside of the McLaren at Turn 8 and forcing them both off the track. Had he completed the maneuver on the track, he 'would have been entitled to racing room.' However, the Dutchman 'left the track and kept the lasting advantage,' resulting in another 10-second penalty (but no penalty points for the second move).
Infringement: Going too fast under the Virtual Safety Car
Penalty points: 1
Late in the São Paulo Grand Prix's sprint race, a virtual safety car period unfolded after Nico Hülkenberg's car stopped off track. In these periods, Article 56.5 of F1's sporting regulations state, in part, 'All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green' as racing resumes. Verstappen, though, tried to challenge Oscar Piastri for second place and was below the minimum time, by 0.63 seconds, 'at VSC End when the FIA light panels changed to green.'
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'This indicates a sporting advantage gained under VSC,' the stewards said in their decision. 'The driver explained that as he was awaiting VSC to end, he got the notification that he was below the minimum time, he attempted to correct the error but failed to do so by the point that the panels turned green.'
Verstappen was dealt a five-second time penalty and one penalty point as a result — something the stewards called the standard 'for the advantage gained at that time'.
Infringement: Driving unnecessarily slow on a cool-down lap
Penalty points: 1
This was one of the rare penalties for Verstappen that came during qualifying, and it was a case that the stewards described as 'complicated.' This was because he 'did not comply with the Race Director's Event Notes and clearly was driving, in our determination, unnecessarily slowly considering the circumstances' late in the main race qualifying in Qatar.
Verstappen was nursing his tires — but remained on the racing line — as Russell was approaching fast behind. But that neither driver was on a push lap impacted the type of penalty Verstappen received. Rather than the standard three-place grid drop, the stewards levied just a one-place grid drop and one penalty point for Verstappen.
While it seemed like a minor incident, this penalty sparked a spat between Russell and Verstappen that stretched into the Abu Dhabi GP weekend and has simmered even since.
Infringement: Causing a collision
Penalty points: 2
Verstappen tangled with the McLaren driver this time. He made an aggressive move down the inside of Piastri at Turn 1 on Lap 1 of 2024's dead rubber season finale, and they collided before spinning. Ultimately, the stewards found Verstappen at fault, resulting in a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points – to make it eight points in just over five months.
'I tried to grab the inside and I quickly realized once I committed to it that the gap was closing and I wanted to try to get out of it because I didn't want to actually crash with Oscar, but unfortunately we still clipped each other,' Verstappen said after the race. 'I already apologized to Oscar. It's not what you want to happen and especially not with him. He's a great guy.
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Infringement: Causing a collision
Penalty points: 3
The big question that came from the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix incident is whether Verstappen intentionally collided with Russell.
It all began shortly after the late safety car period was ending, as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc first overtook Verstappen at the start. They banged wheels and Verstappen was then under attack from Russell, who was on fresher soft tires while the Red Bull driver was fitted with slower hards. They clashed at Turn 1, with Verstappen going wide but staying ahead.
Red Bull told Verstappen to give the position back, in an effort to avoid a potential penalty — one that the stewards later determined 'we would take no further action in relation to that incident.'
Verstappen didn't hide how he felt about the team's request, and approaching Turn 5 on a subsequent lap, he slowed down and appeared to be letting Russell by. The Mercedes driver got ahead and was braking at the entry of Turn 5 when Verstappen accelerated before the two collided at the apex.
Found at fault, Verstappen received a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points, making it 11 in 12 months.
The thing about F1 penalties is that precedents are set and held over the years. The regulations provide a guideline to help the stewards – appointed to be independent by the FIA – determine how to judge an incident and what penalties are available. But it's up to their discretion on exactly what to choose, which is where precedent comes into play.
'When I saw it, it was like, 'Yeah, 10 seconds it's all right because it wasn't right but it wasn't too bad,'' former Haas team boss turned F1 TV pundit Guenther Steiner recently told The Athletic. Steiner has plenty of experience with drivers under his watch in F1 getting involved in controversial incidents.
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'But then afterwards I thought about it, 'What have we done? We have set a precedent.' And that is my comment now. Would it not have been better to disqualify him so it doesn't happen again? In the end, Max would not have lost a lot more, one point, exactly. If you get disqualified, you wouldn't get the three penalty points. He got his penalty not for being disqualified. And in the future now, basically it is all right to do what he did.'
There are also questions of whether the stewards are punishing the consequences of incidents, which will vary depending on the scenario, and if they are taking mitigating factors into consideration. Sometimes the penalties don't match, and it's not clear why to fans.
During the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, both Verstappen and Liam Lawson left the track and gained an advantage at different points of the race. But Verstappen did so on lap one and received only a five-second penalty, while Lawson was hit with a 10-second penalty when he committed the offense later in the race.
The standard penalty for that type of infringement is a 10-second penalty, but the mitigating factor for Verstappen was that it was a Lap 1, Turn 1 offense, which the stewards acknowledged in their decision documents provided a mitigating factor in this instance.
'I think a penalty needs to be black or white. Not like, 'Oh, we know because it was,'' Steiner said. 'Either it is or it isn't. And if you're not sure that it is, it's zero, it's nothing. That's my opinion about it because you cannot start to say, 'I'm not really sure.' If you're not sure, don't give any penalty.'
In Verstappen's Jeddah incident – where again he was racing Piastri – the Red Bull driver did not have any penalty points added to his super license. This could be worth remembering if Verstappen gets involved in any contentious moves without contact at the upcoming races in Canada and Austria.
He won't automatically be banned if he does.
(Top image: Jure Makovec / AFP / Getty Images)