Max Verstappen made threat to quit F1 after receiving ‘silly’ punishment
Max Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points on his FIA super licence after crashing into George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen once threatened to walk away from Formula One after being punished by the FIA for swearing. The reigning world champion is now facing a potential one-race ban after he inexplicably crashed into George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.
In the closing stages of Sunday’s race, Verstappen was battling it out with the Mercedes driver into Turn 1 of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Russell seemed to have gained the upper hand following a safety car restart but a snap of oversteer led him to make contact with Verstappen, who then cut through the run-off area and held onto fourth place.
The Red Bull team instructed Verstappen to let Russell pass after their collision, which was met with a fiery response over the team radio. The reigning world champion appeared to comply momentarily by slowing down into Turn 5, only to accelerate again and hit Russell.
The FIA stewards hit Verstappen with a 10-second time penalty for his part in the shocking incident, causing him to drop from fifth to 10th place in the final standings. Verstappen also had three penalty points added to his license, meaning he’ll need to tread carefully in the next two Grands Prix.
He is just a single penalty point away from an automatic one-race suspension, having accumulated 11 points over the past year. Penalty points remain on a driver’s super licence for 12 months before they expire, meaning his next point won’t come off until the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June.
A ban is unlikely to improve his relationship with the FIA as he has already expressed his frustration towards the motorsport governing body. His anger was visible last year when he was handed a community service sentence for swearing, a day after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem had insisted that drivers needed to clean up their language.
After receiving a penalty—one that Lewis Hamilton also criticized—Max Verstappen accused the FIA of taking the enjoyment out of racing. He stated, “Everyone is pushing the limits, even those at the back of the grid. But if we’re constantly dealing with these kinds of petty issues, I don’t see how the sport can continue for me.”
He added, “I’m not sure how seriously they’ll treat this kind of thing, but for me, there comes a point when enough is enough. Life will go on either way. Formula One will continue without me if needed, and I’ll be fine with that.”
Nearly a year later, Verstappen is once again in the spotlight following a controversial incident on Sunday. George Russell criticized Verstappen’s move as “deliberate” and “completely unnecessary,” while former world champion Nico Rosberg even suggested it warranted a black flag.
Unbothered by the backlash, Verstappen shrugged off the comments, saying, “That’s his opinion. Everyone’s entitled to one.” He was initially dismissive when asked about the clash, responding, “Does it really matter? Okay, great. I’d rather talk about the whole race than just one moment.”
When told that Russell expressed concern about the example it sets for young viewers, Verstappen responded sarcastically, “I’ll bring some tissues next time. He has his opinion, I have mine. Let’s just focus on the race—I think it went pretty well.”
However, on Monday, Verstappen softened his stance. On Instagram, he admitted that frustration over strategy and certain moves after the safety car led to a poor decision, writing, “The tyre call and some of the restarts frustrated me, which resulted in a move that wasn’t right and shouldn’t have happened.”
