Max Verstappen leads defence of Franco Colapinto after "harsh" race ban demand

Max Verstappen thinks calls by Lando Norris for Franco Colapinto to be banned for a collision in the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix “is a bit much”.

The Alpine driver triggered a crash with his team-mate Pierre Gasly and reigning world champion Lando Norris at Turn 1 during the first safety car restart in Saturday’s Baku race.

All three drivers were taken out of the race, while Norris ripped into Franco Colapinto as a driver “that shouldn’t be in Formula 1” and called for him to serve a race ban.

“A race ban is a bit much”

But several leading names on the grid have rushed to Colapinto’s defence, with Baku race winner George Russell saying race bans should only be for drivers who “intentionally” do something “very reckless”.

“Yeah, I think that’s too harsh, personally,” Russell said in the post-race press conference.

“I think safety car restarts, cold tyres, a very small mistake can have big consequences.

“And from what I saw today, that’s what it looked like.

“It was a small error that had a big consequence.

“I think, personally, race bans should come from drivers intentionally doing something very dangerous and very reckless. So I think it was unfortunate.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was second, added: “Yeah, I think as long as, of course, the driver that caused it is aware of what he did, right, and apologised.

“And, I mean, yeah, that happens. I mean, like, a small mistake or misjudgement, you lock up, it’s on the inside, low grip, and, of course, then I guess a bit unfortunate that it involves so many cars.

“But, yeah, unfortunate, happens, and it’s not nice, I think. Not nice for anyone involved, right? But like George said, I think, yeah, a race ban probably is a bit much.”

Isack Hadjar, who was third in the sister Red Bull, blamed the track as “not good enough” for F1 standards and believes this was the main factor in the collision.

“From my side, I think the track is not good enough.

“You move out of the racing line, it starts to be very bumpy.

“It’s hard to generate temperature behind the safety car, it’s going quite slowly.

“So then you just overdo it, and then it has big, big consequences. So, I think, yeah, a race ban is way too harsh.”

Colapinto has been given a five-place grid penalty for next week's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.