Verstappen under pressure: Sorry for a violent collision!

Verstappen under pressure: Sorry for a violent collision!

Barcelona, Spanien - Max Verstappen, the current Formula 1 world champion, is exposed to sharp criticism after a controversial maneuver during the Grand Prize of Spain. In a collision with George Russell in the final phase of the race, the Red Bull driver received a 10-second time penalty, which screwed him back to 10th place. According to OP-ONLINE , Verstappen apologized publicly on Monday, while the reactions were more mixed. Some fans expressed approval, while voices of criticism were also loud.

Norbert Haug, the former Motor sports director of Mercedes, calls for a clearer excuse for Verstappen. He emphasizes that it is not enough to only apologize publicly, but that Verstappen should also apologize to the racing commissioners and directly from George Russell. Haug said that Verstappen had asked for his team for forgiveness on the Sunday after the race, Christian Horner reported on Instagram.

collision and punishment

The incident occurred in the last phase of the event when a Safety Car came on the track after an incident with Kimi Antonelli on Turn 10. Verstappen, who drove on hard tires at the time, was instructed by his team to give 4th place to Russell after the tire strategy had changed. When trying to implement this instruction in turn 5, there was a collision without considerable damage to the vehicles. The racing commissioners decided that Verstappen had caused the collision, which led to the 10-second punishment, which finally put him back to 10th place. This led to a total of 11 penalty points on his FIA super license account, which can result in serious consequences for future races, since there is a risk of racing lock on 12 points, Planetf1 and Motorsport-Magazin

A look at the next challenge

In the coming time, Verstappen, who is already stressed with 11 penalty points this season, sees additional challenges. The next races in Canada and Austria require an increased caution from him, otherwise there could be further penalties. Most drivers currently have fewer than 10 penalty points in Formula 1, while Verstappen is on a critical point that could result in a racing lock, he should commit further violations in the following events.

A look at the distribution of the penalty points shows that Verstappen is at the top of the scale with 11 points. He has to behave responsibly both on the route and outside of it so as not to endanger his title and career in Formula 1.