Jacques Villeneuve is having none of the theory that Max Verstappen’s Spanish GP collision with George Russell was “intentional”.

Furthermore, amid the growing threat of a race ban for Verstappen, Villeneuve claimed Russell “deserved a penalty” for the prior banging of wheels at Turn 1 which saw Verstappen take to the run-off and return to the track still ahead of the Mercedes driver.

Max Verstappen v George Russell: FIA verdicts correct?

Verstappen received two whacks following the race restart in Barcelona as the Safety Car returned to the pits, first from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc down the main straight, and another from Russell into Turn 1, neither incident drawing punishment.

But, with Verstappen told to relinquish P4 to Russell having been sent into the run-off, contact followed at Turn 5, Verstappen seemingly allowing Russell through, only to get back on the power and hit the side of the Mercedes.

For that, the stewards gave Verstappen a 10-second penalty and three Super Licence penalty points, taking his 12-month tally to 11. One more therefore picked up at the Canadian or Austrian GP would trigger a one-race ban.

1997 World Champion Villeneuve is convinced that Verstappen’s collision with Russell was “not intentional”, as he pointed the finger back at Russell for the earlier incident at Turn 1, a coming together which Villeneuve said should not have gone unpunished.

“He immediately wanted to regain the position, but completely messed it up, and people immediately shouted that he did it on purpose and that he wanted to crash Russell out,” Villeneuve continued, speaking to a gambling platform.

“The crazy thing is: Russell deserved a penalty. He hit Max on the rear wheel entering Turn 1.

“According to the rules, that leads to forcing a collision and pushing another driver off the track. So why didn’t he get a penalty for that?

“If there are rules, they should always apply to everyone. Russell deserved a penalty.

“Verstappen lost a lot of points because of that penalty; he only got 10th.

“He knows he doesn’t have the best car, then to still get results, he has to drive at the limit, or even over it, and at some point that leads to mistakes or misjudgements, and that makes his fight for the world title a lot harder.”

More on Max Verstappen’s one-race ban possibility

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👉 F1 penalty points: Verstappen dangerously close to race ban after Russell clash

Verstappen has fallen 49 points behind World Championship leader Oscar Piastri, but after a “disappointing” race in Spain, Verstappen is looking to bounce back in Canada after a free weekend to reset.

“Barcelona was disappointing for us and, although we gave it everything, it was not the way we would have liked the race to turn out,” Verstappen told his own website.

“We have had a bit of a break after the triple header: I have been to Hangar-7 to celebrate its reopening with the [Red Bull] team and we are looking forward to Canada.

“The track there is very unique, has some old school kerbs and there are plenty of opportunities for overtaking. The car set up will be important and it is always more of a challenge with the big breaking zones.

“Last year’s race was an exciting one: we were able to bring home the win and hopefully we can again bring a positive performance this week. The weather conditions are looking a bit better than last year so we will see what happens.”

Verstappen returns to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve looking for a fourth consecutive victory.

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