George Russell has joked Max Verstappen will be ‘even more aggressive’ on track as he teeters on the edge of a race ban.

With Verstappen having amassed 11 penalty points since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix, the four-time F1 World Champion must get through the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix without picking up a single penalty point or else he will pick up an automatic race ban.

George Russell: Crashing into me intentionally would have been ‘bonkers’

Having been on eight penalty points heading into the Spanish Grand Prix a fortnight ago, Verstappen added three to his tally after a late-race clash with Russell in which the Dutch driver appeared to be willing to let Russell past him.

This was after Verstappen had held onto his position by going off track after Russell lunged up the inside into Turn 1, with Verstappen easing off the throttle of his Red Bull to let the Mercedes man through.

But Verstappen then sped up as Russell drew alongside, and blocked the British driver from turning into Turn 5, resulting in contact between the two drivers.

Verstappen was given a 10-second time penalty for the clash and was hit with the penalty points.

It was the latest flashpoint between Russell and Verstappen, with the pair having been embroiled in a war of words at the end of last season following an incident during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.

With Verstappen needing to keep his nose clean for the next two rounds in order to avoid an automatic ban, the possibility of him needing to be more circumspect in on-track battles offers a potential advantage to his rivals, but Russell doubts Verstappen will drive any differently when the visors come down.

“Knowing him as I do, he will probably drive even more aggressively so he can have a weekend off at home, so I don’t know. So let’s hope so!” he laughed, when asked if he thinks Verstappen might drive any differently.

Reflecting on the incident, Russell said he was surprised to have seen the Dutch driver accept his part in the incident – Verstappen having taken to social media to state the incident “shouldn’t have happened” in what appeared to be a hands-up admission, if not quite an apology.

“I was a bit surprised to see him taking responsibility because it’s quite unlike him!” Russell said.

“Look, there’s nothing from my side I need to talk about. Had I been taken out of the race, I’d be feeling very differently, for sure.

“But, ultimately, his actions benefited me and cost him. I should say thanks!”

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George Russell: Driving into me deliberately would have been ‘bonkers’

Russell was also asked whether he saw a difference between what had unfolded between himself and Verstappen, and that of Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez in 1997.

Schumacher, leading the race in the critical title finale, had been lunged by Villeneuve and attempted to turn in on the French-Canadian. But Villeneuve was undamaged in the clash and went on to win the title, while Schumacher retired after getting beached in the gravel.

Schumacher was later disqualified from the entire championship for the collision, but Russell believes his clash with Verstappen was of a different level.

“I want to believe that he didn’t intentionally try to crash into me because that would be pretty bonkers,” he said.

“I think he just tried to show who was boss and put his elbows out, and just got it wrong.

“So I think anything more of a penalty than what he received, I do think would have been a bit much, but it all depends if it was intentional or not, ultimately.”

With the FIA having introduced changes to the racing guidelines this year, which essentially permits overtaking drivers to crowd out their rivals without the need to leave space on corner exit, the British driver said he feels there has been a step forward in this area.

“I mean, racing is fluid. You’re never going to be able to have a ruling or a guideline that fits the bill for every single scenario,” he said.

“I think… Max and my move, when I lunged him, there’s a wording in the guideline that says if you’re in control or out of control. Now, what’s in control?

“I was sliding a little bit, but a rally driver slides the car all the time, and he’s in control.

“Barcelona is low grip, and the car’s moving around on you throughout the whole lap, and you’re in control.

“So it was the lower-risk thing for Red Bull to do, to swap the positions. Maybe they could have risked it and they would have got away with it.

“But, when you’ve got to make such a judgment call at the moment, I think they did the right thing.

“But I personally think it’s working well, I can’t think of any penalties that have been put out this year that have been far from correct.”

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