By Alan Baldwin
BARCELONA (Reuters) -Formula One world champion Max Verstappen is one penalty point away from a race ban after being punished for driving into Mercedes rival George Russell during Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.
In addition to a 10-second time penalty, dropping the Red Bull driver from fifth to 10th, stewards handed Verstappen three penalty points on his super-licence.
That took his tally to 11 for a 12-month period, with 12 points triggering a one-race ban. Two of those points expire at the end of June but there are two races before that.
The Red Bull driver had clashed twice with Russell at the restart following a late safety car period at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The pair made contact first at Turn One when Verstappen, who was defending fourth place on hard tyres against a rival on quicker softs, was pushed wide but stayed ahead. He was then told by Red Bull to hand back the place.
Stewards noted Verstappen “was clearly unhappy with his team’s request.
“At the approach to Turn 5, Car 1 (Verstappen) significantly reduced its speed thereby appearing to allow Car 63 (Russell) to overtake,” they added.
“However, after Car 63 got ahead of Car 1 at the entry of Turn 5, Car 1 suddenly accelerated and collided with Car 63.”
‘INTENTIONAL RETALIATION’?
The incident, as well as an earlier clash with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, triggered accusations of road rage and a return to the “Mad Max” days of old, before Verstappen’s four world titles.
“It looked like a very intentional retaliation. Wait for the opponent, go ramming into him, just like you felt the other guy rammed into you at Turn One,” said Mercedes’ 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg on Sky Sports television.
“That’s something which is extremely unacceptable and I think the rules would be a black flag, yes. If you wait for your opponent to bang into him, that’s a black flag.”
McLaren’s Lando Norris, who finished second, watched a replay in the cool-down room and commented: “I’ve done that before in Mario Kart.”
Russell told reporters he did not know what Verstappen was thinking.
“It felt very deliberate. It is something I have seen numerous times in sim (video) racing and i-racing and never have I seen it in a Formula One race so that was something new,” added the Briton.
“It is a shame because Max is one of the best drivers in the world but manoeuvres like that are totally unnecessary. It lets him down and it is a shame for all of the young kids looking up to us, aspiring to be Formula One drivers.
“It is something you see in go-karting but never in F1. It doesn’t make sense to crash into somebody and risk damaging your own car and risk a penalty. And he could have come back to fight for the podium.”
Verstappen, who had accused Leclerc of ramming into him, accepted the two had different opinions.
“I’ll bring some tissues next time,” the Dutch driver said when told of Russell’s concerns.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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