Max Verstappen is on the verge of a Formula 1 race prohibition after receiving three additional penalty points to his super FIA license for facing George Russell in Sunday Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen collided with Russell in the last stages of the race in Barcelona after being invited to give the Mercedes driver. They first clashed in the first corner of the track after restarting the safety car. Russell plunged late, they touched and Verstappen came out of the track but remained critically.
No measure was finally taken on what happened in the first corner. But, apparently, in anticipation that a penalty will arrive, Red Bull ordered Verstappen to fall behind Russell.
When he left the Mercedes by, Verstappen then established a more contact and received a penalty of 10 seconds at the very end of the race for having caused the second collision with Russell, dropping the defending world champion from the fifth to the 10th of the final classification.
The more complete decision of the F1 race officials added three penalty points to the super license in Verstappen, essentially an F1 driving license, which brought Dutch to 11 penalty points in the past year. Any driver who reaches 12 penalty points in 12 months is subject to an automatic ban on a race.
The rule was only applied once, occurring last year when the Haas pilot, Kevin Magnussen, had to miss the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for having accumulated too many penalty points.
Verstappen will not lose any of the previous points accumulated until after the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June, which means that it must spend two racing weekends with a clean file or face for a race.
The commissioners said in their decision that Verstappen was “clearly unhappy” to have been invited to restore the position to Russell, then “suddenly accelerated” after abandoning the post to the Mercedes car, causing the collision. “The collision was undoubtedly caused by the actions of the car 1,” said the delegates, referring to Verstapun. “We therefore imposed a 10 -second time penalty on the car 1.”
Speaking before the news of the penalty points, Verstappen was reluctant to speak to the journalists of the incident, saying that it was worth “focusing on the race better, which was completely acceptable to the security car”. He then said he thought that what had happened was “an error in judgment”.
Addressing Sky Sports after the race, Russell said that he was surprised by the Verstappen movement and that he was “deliberate” for the moment. “Max is an incredible driver and so many people look at him, it’s just a shame like that continues to happen,” said Russell. “It’s totally useless and it never seems to benefit himself.”
When Russell said he was worried that young children thought they were looking at the Verstappen movements on the track, the Dutch replied: “Ok, well, I will bring fabrics next time.”
In the event that Verstappen was to be prohibited for a race, his penalty slate is wiped and Red Bull is required to find another driver to fill his seat for this race weekend.
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Analysis
By Madeline Coleman
Looking at the penalty points that Verstappen has received in the past 12 months, it is clear that it faces a difficult battle to avoid a race ban.
He will have to navigate a price for the great Canadians and Austrians clean before reaching June 30, when two penalty points fall from his count – these points from the Lando Norris Collision last year in Austria.
The Dutchman received a series of penalty points towards the end of last season, from Mexico City. He had two penalty points at the end of October for having forced Norris off the track, who came during the title battle that Verstappen later won in Las Vegas in mid-November. Another penalty point came Verstappen during the Brazil GP weekend, to be in the minimum time of the virtual safety car, and another occurred in Qatar to drive slowly during the recharge time. To finish the season, his collision with Oscar Piastri during the GP of Abu Dhabi resulted in two penalty points.
The penalty points system, which is at the discretion of the commissioners, was introduced for the first time in 2014. There may be various reasons why the drivers are penalized.
The majority of Magnussen’s sanctions come from collisions with other drivers, while the Verstappen count is more a mixture, while pressing more on incidents involving other drivers.
This comes back to what Dutch do in the fire of the moment when he undergoes a more delicate season than in previous years with the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri fighting for the championship.
(Top Photo: Mark Thompson / Getty Images)
