Max Verstappen’s dramatic clash with George Russell during the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix means that he is now just one penalty point away from a race ban. However, while a ban could prove pivotal in his campaign to hold on to the drivers' title for another year, ex-F1 racer Johnny Herbert says the cloud hanging over Verstappen’s head won’t change the way he goes racing.
Verstappen clashed with the Mercedes racer following a late safety car in the Spanish GP. As a result of the crash, the Dutchman received a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points on his FIA superlicence – bringing his tally to 11 for the year.
The punishment dished out by the stewards dropped Verstappen down to 10th in the race, and means that one more misdemeanour on track before the end of June could spell a race ban for the Dutchman.
Despite the risk of missing an F1 weekend now weighing over Verstappen’s head, former Benetton and Jaguar racer Herbert says he isn’t expecting much to change in Verstappen’s camp over the coming races.
“You’ve got to think about the penalty point situation, one point can be from very simple error of judgement,” Herbert told the Roobet Alternatives site.
“That one penalty point from being banned will be on his mind [but] it will not change the way he’s driving.
“For years, Verstappen has been the chased but now he’s the chaser, he’ll have to be slightly more measured. Those little moments of aggression will have to be controlled.”
Herbert added that Verstappen is the “smartest driver on the track” as he believes he is able to bend the rules of racing to his advantage. But, the Briton warned that the four-time world champion might need to “think differently” over the upcoming Canadian and Austrian grands prix.
In order to change Verstappen’s way of thinking, Herbert added that the risk of a one-race ban might not be enough to “stamp out” on-track behaviour such as this. Instead, the three-time race winner said stewards should have disqualified Verstappen from the Spanish GP to set an example.
“Max Verstappen deserved a black flag and should have been disqualified,” he told the site.
“There’s a point where you have to be hard on the driver when there have been many of these types of incidents. Verstappen is the best driver on the track, with the best racecraft and judgement, but there is always a story with him.
“That type of racing should not happen, if it does happen, the penalty should be harsher to stamp it out. It can’t just be a 10-second penalty, otherwise you’re treating it like any other racing incident.”
In an F1 race, stewards have the power to hand out five- and 10-second time penalties, as well as drive-through and stop-go penalties, which would both have been more severe and pushed Verstappen out of the points.
In sever instances, they can disqualify drivers from the race or the following grand prix, as was the case with Romain Grosjean in 2012 when he was found to have caused a dramatic first lap crash at the Belgian Grand Prix.
