Relief for Max Verstappen as F1 race ban threat dwindles

Max Verstappen’s risk of triggering an automatic race ban has dwindled in a boost for his F1 title hopes.

F1 drivers can be penalised for mistakes and rack up penalty points on their licence, with 12 accrued over the course of a 12-month period leading to a race ban.

This happened last season when Kevin Magnussen was forced to sit out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after reaching 12 points.

Red Bull’s Verstappen had been the driver most in danger of triggering a ban, having sat on nine penalty points since the Spanish Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion moved to within three points of a ban for driving into George Russell during the Barcelona race, which took him to nine points for the current 12-month period.

Verstappen has had to be on his best behaviour since and has successfully navigated the past 11 races with a clean record.

It will come as a relief for the Dutchman that three points will expire ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Two of these will drop off for forcing Lando Norris off track at last year’s Mexico City Grand Prix, while the third was for failing to slow sufficiently during a Virtual Safety Car in Brazil.

These deductions will take Verstappen from nine points down to six heading into the final four races of the 2025 F1 season.

Verstappen will see an additional point expire in Qatar, while two further points will be wiped from his licence following the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

After finishing third in Mexico City, Verstappen has closed the gap to Norris at the summit of the F1 world championship to 36 points with four rounds to go.

Mexico marked the fifth consecutive event that Verstappen has moved closer to the top of the drivers’ standings.