In addition to a 10-second time penalty, Max Verstappen was also given three penalty points after crashing into George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.

And that means the reigning four-time World Champion has seen his FIA Super Licence tally rise to 11 points for the 12-month period. Therefore should he pick up one more up before June 30, Verstappen would be forced to sit out a grand prix.

Max Verstappen: One-race ban a genuine danger?

The incident in question saw the Red Bull driver collide with Russell at Turn 5 late in the Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen left unhappy when his team had ordered him to yield P4 to the Mercedes.

At the restart following a Safety Car deployed to cover Kimi Antonelli’s stricken Mercedes, Charles Leclerc had passed Verstappen into Turn 1 and Russell looked to follow, though Verstappen used the run-off and returned ahead of Russell, the stewards deciding Verstappen had not left the track to gain an advantage.

But they were less forgiving at what soon followed, after Red Bull took it upon themselves to request Verstappen let Russell through. It looked like he was going to do it at Turn 5, but as Russell came around the outside, Verstappen moved right and banged wheels with the sole remaining Mercedes, before letting Russell past later in the lap.

For that incident, the stewards gave Verstappen a 10-second penalty which dropped him to P10, and with three penalty points later added to his FIA Super Licence, Verstappen will be walking the tightrope for the rest of June.

Now with 11 points on his Super Licence, Verstappen cannot afford to pick up any more or he will be banned for a race, which could prove a hammer blow to his title chances, after falling 49 points behind Drivers’ Championship leader Oscar Piastri following the Spanish GP.

Latest key stats following the 2025 Spanish GP

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025 standings following the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix

Not until June 30 will Verstappen see any points come off his Super Licence, when the two he picked up for causing a collision with Lando Norris at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix will be struck off his record.

This means Verstappen must have a penalty point-free Canadian and Austrian GP in order to avoid triggering a one-race ban.

Kevin Magnussen became the first driver to incur such a ban under the current system last season as he hit the dreaded 12-point mark, forcing him to miss the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Read next: Max Verstappen ‘will bring the tissues’ for George Russell in reaction to Barcelona crash