Will Max Verstappen ‘think twice’ after F1 Spanish GP punishment?

Max Verstappen will “think twice” about how he goes about racing with the risk of an F1 race ban looming over him, it has been claimed.

The Red Bull driver finds himself walking a tightrope as he is just one penalty point away from triggering an automatic one-race ban following the punishment he received for his controversial clash with George Russell in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Verstappen must now get through the next two grands prix in Canada and Austria cleanly to avoid picking up an unwanted suspension that would act as a critical blow in his hopes to win a fourth successive world championship this year.

Analysing the controversial flashpoint with Russell and whether Verstappen’s penalty was fair, Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft told Sky Sports News: “Whilst a 10 second time penalty might not seem a lot, it might seem like a bit of a slap on the wrist, but in giving that 10 second time penalty, the stewards demoted Max to 10th place.

“So he picked up just one point and that big loss of points I think is the appropriate punishment for that. I think it was the right penalty. You could have done a 10-second stop-go penalty, which would translate to 30 seconds on your race time.

''You'd have finished completely out of the points - maybe that could have been a penalty they chose as well. But not necessarily a black flag, although I can understand people calling for that.

“I'm not one for massively harsh penalties like that, but enough to make Max think twice. The key second part of the punishment from the stewards I think will make Max think twice again.

“He’s going to have to go into the next two races knowing that any misdemeanour on track, anything that falls foul of the stewards, could result in another penalty point which would mean he would miss a race.”

Asked whether it will make the Dutchman change his approach, Croft replied: “He will run the risk. In Formula 1 it’s hard to say that you’ve got time to think twice, in the heat of the moment because things happen so quickly.

“But I wouldn’t imagine Max would want to push it that close with the stewards and I can’t see him doing as a premeditated move that might pick up more penalty points. So yeah, I think he will behave himself.”

Verstappen-Russell beef to continue?

Verstappen and Russell’s coming together was the latest incident in what has become a long-running feud between the F1 rivals.

The first major clash came at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix when Russell punched a hole in the sidepod of Verstappen’s Red Bull, leading the latter to call the Mercedes driver a “d***head” in a pit lane confrontation that was picked up by TV cameras.

Verstappen and Russell had an end-of-season bust-up in Abu Dhabi last year as the pair traded shots at each other following an incident in Qatar. At the 2024 season finale, Russell accused Verstappen of threatening behaviour and bullying.

Croft has tipped their rivalry to continue, saying: "They find themselves on the same part of the track together quite a lot because they are racing at the sharp end, so there’s plenty more opportunity for those flashpoint incidents to occur.

“It started out in Baku when they had a bit of a war of words and Max was shouting at George in the pit lane and it’s carried on.

“Do they rub each other up the wrong way? Yes, because they are rivals on the track and they are both trying to beat the other one. Is there a respect there from both sides? Yes of course there is and I thought George was very careful in his words when he was speaking after the race as well.

“Max is a strong character and George is a strong character and when the two come together you are going to get rubbing antlers from time to time.

“This will carry on but I don’t think they are going out looking for trouble with each other, it’s just the happen to be on the same part of the track as each other more often than not.”