Max Verstappen was doubly punished for making contact with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix. First and foremost, he lost nine points as a 10-second penalty dropped him from fifth to 10th.
Verstappen has now fallen 49 points behind championship leader and race winner Oscar Piastri. He was a dark horse in the title race, but now he looks like a distant outsider.
But the Red Bull driver’s championship prospects could vanish for good if he misses a race. And the prospect of a suspension is now very real.
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
186 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
176 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
137 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
111 |
Verstappen entered the year with eight penalty points, and he picked up three more after the stewards ruled that he’d caused a collision. He’s just one short of a race ban.
The points expire after a year, and Verstappen will soon shed the two he picked up for a clash with Lando Norris at the 2024 Austrian GP. But he’ll have to navigate the next two races without any transgressions first.
Red Bull rivals questioned why Max Verstappen didn’t get bigger penalty for George Russell contact
Many F1 fans felt Verstappen deserved a bigger penalty on Sunday, be it a stop/go or even a black flag. They pointed to the example of Sebastian Vettel at the 2017 Azerbaijan GP.
Vettel received a 10-second stop/go, which effectively amounted to a 30-second penalty, after he was adjudged to have deliberately driven into Lewis Hamilton behind the safety car.
According to RACER journalist Chris Medland, many staff at Red Bull’s rivals questioned why Verstappen didn’t receive a harsher sanction. But they were also wary of the stewards ‘assuming intent’.
Asked how he got away with 10 seconds, Medland replied: “I honestly don’t know. Many rival team members in the paddock asked the same question, but the overriding feeling was that it’s dangerous for the stewards to assume intent when making a decision during a race.
“The fact that Sebastian Vettel got a 10-second stop/go in Baku in 2017 for hitting Lewis Hamilton under the safety car should have been a precedent in my opinion, but the stewards went with the standard causing a collision penalty.”
David Croft says Max Verstappen saved himself with ‘very clever’ trick
Even Red Bull motorsports advisor Helmut Marko condemned Verstappen after reviewing his data. He saw the four-time world champion briefly jump back on the throttle before banging into Russell at the apex.
That wasn’t enough for the stewards to rule that he did it on purpose. He also earned ten-second penalties in Mexico last year for two separate incidents with Norris.
Having watched the onboard footage, David Croft says Verstappen was ‘very clever’. He straightened his steering but never made a ‘deliberate move towards’ Russell, which would have been seen as far more serious.
Verstappen acknowledged on social media that the move ‘shouldn’t have happened’. He was incensed that the team told him to give the place back to Russell after a 50/50 battle at turn one.
