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Make The Punishment Fit the Crime; Max Verstappen Deserved the Max
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Make The Punishment Fit the Crime; Max Verstappen Deserved the Max

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While Sunday’s (May 25th) Aramco Spanish Grand Prix had its share of drama and excitement, all of it took a back seat when Max Verstappen deliberately drove into George Russell on lap 60. The Red Bull driver was handed a ten-second penalty. Many questions arose in the aftermath, two of which were 1) Did Verstappen go too far?, and 2) Should the FIA have gone further with its punishment?

Verstappen made a statement at lights out at Barcelona when he outdragged Lando Norris and overtook the McLaren for second place into Turn 1. That’s the Verstappen with whom his competitors are familiar – aggressive, ruthless, and fearless. But that version of Verstappen disappeared when it became apparent that McLaren’s pace and tire advantage was more than his Red Bull could contend with. On lap 13, the Dutchman did something uncharacteristic by not putting up any resistance whatsoever as Norris zipped by for second. 

This lack of opposition from Verstappen was a precursor to the Red Bull driver crossing the line later in the race, when he turned his absence of resistance into a situation in which Verstappen’s resistance was dangerously unprofessional.  

Already frustrated by knowing he didn’t have the best car, Verstappen’s frustration mounted late in the race when a safety car led to wholesale pit stops, with the two McLarens leaving with soft tires, while Verstappen’s crew strapped on a set of hards, his only tire option remaining. Verstappen questioned the team’s decision, a valid concern since staying out would have given him the lead, albeit leaving him highly vulnerable to the charging McLarens on fresh rubber.  

Things quickly went downhill for Verstappen once green flag racing resumed on lap 60. As the two McLarens took off, Verstappen nearly lost control as his back end snapped on the final corner, leaving him vulnerable to Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Verstappen and Leclerc battled side-by-side and made slight contact, with Leclerc snatching P3, as Russell looked to take advantage of the struggling Red Bull. Verstappen and Russell made contact, which forced the Red Bull to veer down the escape road.

Verstappen rejoined the track ahead of Russell and was later asked by Christian Horner to give the spot back, presumably to preempt a penalty for gaining a position off the track.

After expressing his disapproval, Verstappen seemed to acquiesce to Horner’s suggestion and appeared to move over to let Russell through before making the sudden and ultimately regrettable decision to turn into the Mercedes. The ten-second penalty followed at the end of the race.  

Verstappen’s actions against Russell should have been punished by disqualification. They were premeditated. The duration of premeditation can be minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years; it can also be three seconds, which was the length of time between Verstappen seemingly pulling over and allowing Russell to pass, and his shocking decision to turn into Russell’s Mercedes. Premeditation, no matter how short the time, is still premeditation. 

And had Verstappen wrecked Russell, would race officials have thought twice about handing Verstappen a harsher penalty? Probably not. But that shouldn’t matter. The situation and the criteria for penalization involved intent. And the intent was obvious. Did Verstappen mean to drive into Russell? Yes. Did he mean to wreck Russell? It doesn’t matter, and should not have mattered. The severity of the penalty should be based on the action, not the result. 

The ten-second penalty slapped on Verstappen by race officials was comically insufficient. Just a week before at Monaco (on May 25th), Russell was hit with a harsher penalty (a drive-through penalty) for merely passing Alex Albon off the track, then admitting he did it on purpose. Yes, Russell should have been penalized for flaunting the rules; yet his transgression was not nearly as egregious as Verstappen’s. By just viewing the penalties, without context, any rational observer would come to the conclusion that Verstappen’s and Russell’s actions were equally as lawless. They were not. 

If you’re looking for a pattern explaining when Verstappen’s testy alter-ego “Mad Max” rears its ugly head, there is one. It surely didn’t happen when Verstappen was winning 19 of 23 races in 2023, or 15 of 22 in 2022. 

It did happen in 2024, when Verstappen saw his dominance challenged by Norris and Leclerc. In fact, Verstappen received six penalty points on his superlicense during the 2024 season (for five different incidents, two of which involved either causing a collision with Norris or forcing Norris off the track). 

In short, Verstappen is on his best behavior when he has the far superior car; once that superiority is contested in the least bit, he acts out in the manner of an irritable child, an irritable child, mind you, behind the wheel of a 1,800-pound Formula 1 car.

To his credit, Verstappen did finally admit, one day after the race, that the Russell crash “was not right” and “shouldn’t have happened.” But notice Verstappen said the crash “was not right,” instead of really taking ownership and stating, “I was not right.” There are backhanded compliments; this was a backhanded, and insincere, apology.

Maybe given some time and introspection, Verstappen may conclude that his actions were truly regrettable, not only because they were unsportsmanlike and dangerous, but because he could have thrown away any chance of winning the 2025 world championship. He could have swallowed his pride and accepted fifth place and 12 crucial points, and headed to Canada trailing McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the drivers standings by 38 points. Instead, after being demoted to 10th in Spain as a result of the penalty, he now trails Piastri by 49 points. While neither a 38 nor 49-point deficit should be considered insurmountable, 11 points could potentially be critical in what is likely to be a tight championship race. 

The incident with Russell could be the flashpoint of Verstappen’s downfall in the championship battle, or it could be the turning point in his season and quest for his fifth consecutive world title. If he has an inferior car, then Verstappen should deal with it, like many of his competitors did in 2022 and 2023, while also not driving recklessly at times and taking their frustrations out in dangerous ways, when Red Bull and Verstappen were untouchable. He may not realize it, but Verstappen’s undeniable talent often shines brightest when he’s in a car that is not the fastest in the field. 

Verstappen’s actions in Spain deserved a strict penalty, and one that served as a deterrent to future hazardous actions. The ten-second penalty was neither, so the FIA needed to do two things: grow a pair and drop the hammer on Verstappen with a disqualification.

I understand their reluctance; Verstappen has shown that when he feels that he’s been wronged, it often leads to him acting out maliciously. The FIA needed to send a message, and it is not their job to govern how Verstappen receives that message. If he receives it as he should, with maturity and reflection, then all is well. If he doesn’t, then forget his feelings. Keep penalizing him until he corrects his behavior. Formula 1 will be safer for it. 

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