Max Verstappen on verge of F1 race ban after penalty for George Russell clash in Spanish GP

New York Times

2 days ago

Max Verstappen is on the verge of a one-race ban in Formula One after his 10-second penalty for clashing with George Russell in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen collided with Russell in the closing stages of the race in Barcelona on Sunday after being instructed to give the position up to the Mercedes driver. He was adjudged to have gone off the track at Turn 1 to stay ahead following a safety car restart.
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No action was ultimately taken on what happened at the first corner. The stewards handed Verstappen a 10-second time penalty at the very end of the race for causing a collision with Russell, dropping the reigning world champion from fifth to 10th in the final classification.
But the fuller ruling by the F1 race officials added three penalty points to Verstappen's FIA super license for causing the collision, taking Verstappen up to 11 penalty points in the last 12 months. 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 penalty points from his super license 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 after the race, saying that 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.'
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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.