FIA’s judgement on Max Verstappen vs George Russell clash in Spanish GP
The full stewards verdict on the clash between Max Verstappen and George Russell in Spain.
Max Verstappen has been slapped with a 10-second time penalty for his late-race clash with Geroge Russell in the closing stages of Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen backed off going into Turn 5 with just three laps to go in Barcelona, having been instructed by Red Bull to hand the place back to Mercedes rival Russell following their earlier scrap at Turn 1.
But as Russell completed the move around the outside under braking for the left-hander, Verstappen appeared to speed back up again, leading to contact between the pair.
Verstappen would eventually let Russell through into Turn 11, but the stewards penalised the four-time F1 champion with a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.
The penalty was applied post-race, dropping Verstappen from fifth to the final-points paying position in 10th on a tough day for Red Bull.
Verstappen and Russell had earlier made contact into Turn 1 shortly after the safety car restart, with Verstappen going off track and using the escape road before rejoining the track ahead of the Mercedes.
Red Bull subsequently asked Verstappen to hand back the position, prompting an angry response from the Dutchman on the team radio.
Verstappen was left vulnerable on the restart with just six laps to run because Red Bull fitted him with a new set of hard tyres, which takes a long time to warm up compared to the soft and medium tyres most of his rivals were running at that time.
The 27-year-old had a huge oversteer exiting the final corner as the safety car peeled into the pits and was overtaken by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc just as they crossed the finish line to start the lap. There was minor contact between the pair on the start/finish straight, with the stewards currently investigating the incident.
