Max Verstappen believes that the “racing standards” currently pose the “biggest issue” in Formula 1.

The reigning four-time World Champion made his point after an eventful and controversial Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen saying the guidelines on what is acceptable Formula 1 racing are “not natural” after incidents with Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

Max Verstappen unhappy with F1 ‘racing standards’: Change needed?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Try as he might with the three-stop strategy, it looked as though Verstappen was set to follow the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris across the line in Barcelona, only for a late Safety Car to cover Kimi Antonelli’s stricken Mercedes to change the picture.

That triggered the frontrunners to pit, Verstappen included, though hard tyres were the only option Red Bull had to fit onto his RB21, leaving Verstappen on that compound for the restart and closing laps, while all others were on softs.

Verstappen got all out of shape heading onto the main straight, giving Leclerc an opening down into Turn 1, though not before he and Verstappen banged wheels. Leclerc came through, and Russell also took a shot at a Turn 1 pass, with further contact sending Verstappen into the run-off as he re-joined still ahead of Russell in P4.

The final moment of controversy came after Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase had told him to give the place to Russell, a frustrated Verstappen seemingly obliging at Turn 5, only to get back on the power and strike Russell’s Mercedes, both drivers fortunately able to continue.

While the stewards took no further action on the Leclerc/Verstappen contact, or the Verstappen/Russell moment at Turn 1, Verstappen was punished for that final incident with Russell, receiving a 10-second penalty which dropped him to P10 in the final classification, plus three Super Licence penalty points, taking him to 11 and one away from a one-race ban.

And following the race, Verstappen expressed his frustration over the “not very natural” guidelines which dictate what is and what is not acceptable racing.

Test your Max Verstappen knowledge

👉 Max Verstappen quiz: How well do you know the two-time World Champion?

👉 The truth behind Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen and the gas station

“Unfortunately, that Safety Car just came at the wrong time. But that’s also part of racing,” Verstappen told the media including PlanetF1.com.

“Then, with the hard tyre, I had a big moment in the last corner, because I couldn’t keep up with these soft tyres around me.

“Then on the straight, I got driven into already and then into Turn 1 as well. Then they told me to give the position back.

“But honestly, I think the biggest issue that we have is just that the racing standards; what is allowed, what isn’t, is not very natural, and that is quite frustrating.

“And of course, sometimes it works for you, sometimes it works against you. And today that worked against me.”

Verstappen has now fallen 49 points behind Drivers’ Championship leader Oscar Piastri, who claimed a fifth win of the season in Barcelona.

Read next: ‘All hell broke loose’ – Marko breaks his silence on Verstappen’s Spanish GP meltdown