Max Verstappen is now on the verge of a one-race ban, needing only one more penalty point following his incident with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix. This puts him in a precarious position for the upcoming two races.
During Sunday`s race, the collision with the Mercedes driver on lap 64 resulted in stewards imposing a significant 10-second time penalty on Verstappen. This penalty caused him to drop from fifth to finish in 10th place.
Additionally, the stewards assigned three penalty points to the world champion`s super licence, bringing his total over the past year to 11 points.
According to Formula 1`s penalty points system, a driver accumulates a one-race suspension upon reaching 12 penalty points within a 12-month timeframe.
Each penalty point remains on a driver`s super licence for twelve months before it is removed.
Kevin Magnussen, formerly a Haas driver, was the first to incur a ban under this disciplinary system since its implementation in 2014.
Verstappen will not have any of his current penalty points removed until June 30. Two of these points were issued for a collision with Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix last year.
Two races are scheduled before June 30: the Canadian Grand Prix on June 15 and the Austrian GP on June 29. This means Verstappen must race cleanly in both Montreal and at the Red Bull Ring to avoid receiving any points that would lead to a ban.
The subsequent event after these is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 6.
Verstappen needs to maintain caution in racing incidents even after June, as he will carry at least nine penalty points until October 27, when two more points from last season`s incidents expire.
When questioned about the situation on Sunday evening in Barcelona, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner commented, “You can never guarantee anything.”
He added that Verstappen “just has to keep his nose clean in the next couple of races.”
Horner concluded by stating that the first points “then come off at the end of June.”
Verstappen`s final 10th-place finish resulted in him being 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, a deficit equivalent to two race victories.
Gilbert Pendleton