Max Verstappen is just one point away from a race ban.

Along with a 10s penalty, the Red Bull driver has been hit with 3 penalty points following his collision with George Russell during today's Spanish Grand Prix.

The 3 points bring the Dutchman to 11 over the twelve month period, just one shy of an automatic race ban.

According to the stewards, from radio communications it was clear that Verstappen was asked by his team to 'give the position back' to George Russell for what they perceived to be an earlier breach by the Dutchman for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage.

In fact, the stewards determined that they would take no further action in relation to that incident.

Indeed, in the earlier incident Russell had attempted to overtake Verstappen on the inside of Turn 1. While the front axle of the Mercedes was ahead of the mirror of the Red Bull at the apex, Russell momentarily lost control of his car and collided with the Dutchman, forcing him wide and into the escape road.

Verstappen re-entered the track at Turn 3 ahead of Russell. However, given that the reason for the Red Bull driver being forced off the track was the loss of control and the resulting contact by Russell, the Dutchman did not deliberately leave the track and the stewards therefore took no further action.

However, unaware of this and fearing a penalty, Red Bull instructed Verstappen to yield to the Mercedes. The Dutchman was clearly unhappy with his team's request and at the approach to Turn 5, significantly reduced his speed thereby appearing to allow Russell to overtake.

However, after the Mercedes got ahead at the entry of Turn 5, Verstappen suddenly accelerated and collided with Russell.

According to the stewards, the collision was undoubtedly caused by the actions of Verstappen and therefore they imposed a 10 second time penalty thereby demoting him to tenth, and the three penalty points.

The first of the Dutchman's current 11 penalty points came at last year's Austrian Grand Prix which was held on 30 June. There are two more races before the end of this month.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Hobgoblin, 2 hours ago

"@Pavlo - https://www.pitpass.com/80355/It-shouldnt-have-happened-admits-Verstappen"

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2. Posted by Pavlo, 02/06/2025 10:05

"@Batman - sorry but you are clearly wrong. Max got 10s penalty and 3 points, this is clearly not something called "with impunity".
What I see everywhere is a same "Max slowed down to let Russell overtake, and then accelerated to collide" - but I doubt it's correct. I saw clearly that Max did slide in T4 and therefore was already slower coming to T5. Had he then additionally slowed down, Russell would have been easily in front. Which leaves 2 possibilities - either Max didn't intentionally slow down and just tried to defend the position (legitimately), or George slowed down instead of overtaking, so Max decided to take the corner (then it's a miscommunication and racing incident). But we can't say without telemetry.
Also a big question to stewards and RB, if Max didn't have to give back position for T1, and did in fact let Russell overtake after T5, how can they decide that he did it for T1 and not as excuse for crash in T5?
"

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3. Posted by ffracer, 02/06/2025 3:31

"I'm sorry but it seems that the FIA, brilliant at manipulating F1 racing, continue to impose draconian penalties against Max and a few drivers and miss the plot conveniently with certain other drivers. Russell punted/bounced Max off track and got nothing... Max showed everyone how blatant Russell's move was, to the "max" ... when he boiled over. His vigilante move didn't help him today but Max was been vilified for everything and some don't get penalized enough. A double standard with these stewards and it needs to be more consistent. Leclerc's high-speed nudge was dangerous, Russell's shove was dangerous and Max's misery continues because that's the only way that they can get him and rig the results. This inconsistency is becoming untenable."

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4. Posted by Jet Jockey, 01/06/2025 19:34

"I’m looking forward to that one race ban."

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5. Posted by Batman, 01/06/2025 18:53

"I can't help but remember the Kevin Magnussen incident. I've never seen the Dane do anything similar after a frustration. And yet, he was hammered with points and penalties. Verstappen crossed a red line and did so with clear and absolute intent to hit a fellow competitor, especially when the decision to give the position back came from his own team helping him avoid a time penalty that would have been far more damaging considering the close proximity of all the drivers. Max cannot continue to act as he pleases with impunity. They allowed him to push Leclerc off track in Austria in 2019 without any sanction, and ever since then he has known the extent to which he can go. In my opinion, he's a rare and unique natural talent. He's unbeatable in equal machinery, but this crossed the line."

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Verstappen one penalty point away from race ban

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