Verstappen-Russell incident in the Spanish GP
Verstappen-Russell incident in the Spanish GP
Max Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty and three penalty points due to colliding with George Russell.
Red Bull Racing took multiple Ls here:
1 - putting the hard tires on (this one goes to the team engineer) 2 - asking Max to give the position back after he was clearly pushed (this one goes to the team engineer too) 3 - crashing into Russell (this one goes to Max)
If they avoided this three dumb mistakes Max could have ended 4th, he would have had it difficult because of the lack of grip, but at the very least he wouldn't have been penalized.
Max wasn't pushed at all!. Russel was already ahead at the apex, the issue is that Max never yields whether he has to or not. Every similar situation in the past 4 years has resulted in the same outcome
No other tyres left, would have been very vulnerable in last laps, this is debatable and we'll never know. Race engineer is probably in the right, and Max knew it or he wouldn't have given it up. Max threw his car into George, the lack of a race ban is ridiculous
The race engineer was wrong. The stewards confirmed after the race that the first incident between Max and George would not be penalized and Max taking the escape route was fine. There was no reason to give back the place in hindsight.
I am wondering if he would have been penalized if he would not have given the position back
11 out of 12 penalty points. He's going to end up sitting out a race this year with the way he's going.
He's not going to care if he isn't in the championship hunt and they aren't allowed to criticize anything. The frustration is building and Max isn't one to be reserved about anything. It wouldn't surprise me to see more boneheaded maneuvers as a form of protest.
I mean, he's basically the only one that can challenge the McLaren boys at this point. There's no guarantees McLaren will be the best car for the whole season, and they could start taking points off each other as their rivalry heats up. The tantrum in Barcelona is throwing away any chance of him being in a position to grab those points if it ever comes.
I believe 2 of 11 will expire this month
Edit: yes: https://www.planetf1.com/features/f1-penalty-points-drivers
Couldn't happen to a better fella.