Max Verstappen’s Spanish GP clash a missed opportunity for FIA

Max Verstappen should have had the book thrown at him for his Spanish GP clash

Verstappen’s collision with Russell in the latter stages of the Spanish Grand Prix was entirely in character for a racer who has built a career on being uncompromising on-track.

It’s a personality trait in-keeping with a host of greats in the motorsport world; Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher were both hard-as-nails racers who were the standard-bearers of their time.

That is arguably now a mantle that belongs to Max Verstappen.

While Lewis Hamilton may be a seven-time world champion, one feels that the 40-year-old has now been eclipsed – not in terms of his stature in the pantheon of F1 greats, but in terms of his position at the benchmark against which the current grid is measured.

Verstappen is brash, aggressive, determined, and possesses as strong sense of injustice. Often positive characteristics, they bring with them negatives in the right (or wrong) situation.

In Spain, that manifested himself when the ultra-competitive Dutchman saw the glimmer of a result ripped from him through a combination of his (and the team’s) aggression and the way events unfolded around him.

Without doubt, the timing of the Safety Car for Kimi Antonelli’s stricken Mercedes transformed the Spanish Grand Prix.

While Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris remained comfortable at the front, in a heart-beat the three-stopping Verstappen became vulnerable with only hard tyres left in his arsenal.

Requesting “fresh” tyres for his last stop, the Red Bull pit wall made what it felt was the best decision it could at the time and bolted on the white-walled rubber – a tyre nobody had used in the race, a result of nobody getting it to work around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during practice.

Add to that a little restart argy-bargy with Charles Leclerc and one can see how things can quickly turn from comfortable to frustrated within the RB21’s cockpit. By the time Verstappen and Russell made contact at Turn 1, the Dtuchman’s frustration was already simmering.

Whether that contact was the tipping point, or the brush with the Ferrari, or even Gianpiere Lambiase’s request to allow Russell through, ultimately an aggressive, determined driver with a strong sense of injustice felt aggrieved.

It’s understandable and perfectly relatable; it was a human reaction.

But that doesn’t make his response to that emotion right, nor does it make it acceptable. Intentionally driving into a rival for any reason is not acceptable at any level of motorsport..

Formula 1 has increasingly become a contact sport over the years. As the cars have become stronger and safer, and to an extent because incidents have gone unpunished, things have ever so slowly escalated.

Verstappen’s acts were deplorable but also merely the latest in a string of escalating incidents.

Key stats following the Spanish Grand Prix

???? F1 penalty points: Verstappen dangerously close to race ban after Russell clash

???? Data exposes bizarre Max Verstappen action in George Russell clash

Some eight years ago, Sebastian Vettel steered into Lewis Hamilton under Safety Car conditions in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, albeit as they prepared for a restart.

In that instance, Vettel received a 10-second stop-go penalty and was subsequently made to educate drivers in junior formulae. He also apologised for his actions.

“I had no intention at anytime to put Lewis in danger, but I understand that I caused a dangerous situation,” the German said. “Therefore, I would like to apologise to the FIA.”

It was too lenient a response. While contact in motor racing is sometimes unavoidable, to do so under controlled circumstances is entirely unforgivable.

Then, only a year ago, Lance Stroll was inexplicably given only a reprimand for driving into Hamilton during Free Practice 3 in Spain.

There, Stroll had been impeded and made his feelings known by “driving erratically,” according to the stewards.

“He admitted that he wanted to express his displeasure to the other driver by pulled over on his at the exit,” stewards’ noted at the time.

“Both cars made slight contact which was incidental.”

In both instances, the drivers in question made deliberate aggressive moves towards their rival to intimidate. Neither received significant punishment and, as a result, the threshold of tolerance was ever so slightly eroded.

And that is a trend that has now continued, with Verstappen not penalised even to the same degree as Vettel.

Instead, Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty for deliberate contact in a less controlled racing environment, not the 10-second stop-go that Vettel got. Both, however, received three penalty points.

“The driver of Car 1 was clearly unhappy with his team’s request to give the position back,” stewards noted of Verstappen.

“At the approach to Turn 5, Car 1 significantly reduced its speed thereby appearing to allow Car 63 to overtake. However, after Car 63 got ahead of Car 1 at the entry of Turn 5, Car 1 suddenly accelerated and collided with Car 63.

“The collision was undoubtedly caused by the actions of Car 1. We therefore imposed a 10 second time penalty on Car 1.”

What was metered out was (in essence) the third-weakest penalty of the eight options available to stewards.

Under the Sporting Regulations, that runs: five-second penalty, 10-second penalty, drive-through penalty, 10-second stop-and-go penalty, a ‘time’ penalty, a reprimand, drop of any number of grid positions at the drivers’ next race, disqualification, or suspension from the drivers’ next competition.

That is all wrapped up under Article 54.2 a) of the regulations which states that “It shall be at the discretion of the stewards to decide if any driver involved in an Incident should be penalised.” Under the following Article (54.3), stewards then have the ability to apply one of the eight aforementioned options.

Nico Rosberg was immediate in his belief that disqualification should have resulted, and the out-spoken German has a valid point.

While a draconian penalty, it also re-establishes precedent, something that is much needed after years of these sorts of actions going largely unpunished.

Wheel-to-wheel racing is fair game and, for the most part, officials should steer clear of penalising good, hard racing. But deliberately driving into a rival at any speed under any circumstance should not be tolerated.

It’s a point Russell perhaps unwittingly made in his reference to a Formula E driver; Dan Ticktum received a two-year ban (one of which was suspended) from competition after deliberately crashing into a rival while in Formula 4.

That felt an appropriate punishment, and made the fiery Brit an example for all the wrong reasons.

And it’s what officials in Spain should have done to Verstappen. Instead, with a comparatively light punishment it’s essentially turned a blind eye to an act that now has the opportunity to permeate through the sport.

Verstappen copped a 10-second penalty that dropped him from fourth to 10th in the standings, and that might be enough pain you might suggest. But what if he’d been battling for 11th? It would have been a meaningless penalty.

We know from Russell in Monaco that stewards do have discretion and can exercise to ensure a penalty is fitting of the crime, and in this instance there is a disconnect.

This was an opportunity to send that message, and officials squandered it.