Source: Imagn Images/David Kirouac
[Saba Sports News] With accumulated penalty points reaching 11, Max Verstappen is facing the most dangerous period of his F1 career. If he receives one more penalty point at either the upcoming Canadian or Austrian Grand Prix, he will automatically trigger a suspension. This situation has become the focus of discussion in the paddock, also leading some competitors to become eager, making sarcastic comments, with Mercedes driver George Russell among them. This partly stems from a previous incident at the Spanish Grand Prix where Verstappen and Russell clashed. After allowing the lead in Turn 1, Verstappen forcibly closed the line in Turn 5 and contacted Russell. Race control penalized Verstappen with a 10-second time penalty and deducted three penalty points, pushing his total to 11, just one away from triggering a ban. Russell’s attitude toward this matter was rather subtle. When interviewed, he jokingly said Verstappen might “drive a bit harder,” hinting that the Dutchman might want to take a break. Some outside voices have compared Verstappen’s incident with the famous collision between Michael Schumacher and Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve in 1997. Regarding this, Russell stated that the two incidents differ in nature. He is willing to believe that Verstappen did not intentionally crash but merely wanted to demonstrate his tough stance, though he misjudged the situation. He emphasized that the key to the penalty lies in whether there was intent, not the outcome after the fact.