The FIA have announced a late penalty for Max Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix that saw him demoted down into P10 after he collided TWICE with F1 rival George Russell.
Verstappen and Russell collided with each other twice in just a few laps, following a late safety car at the Spanish Grand Prix, causing Verstappen to pick up a 10-second time penalty.
Heading down the main straight, both Charles Leclerc and Russell looked to be getting past Verstappen after he had suffered a snap of oversteer, but he and Russell touched.
They then collided once again when Verstappen was told by Red Bull to let Russell past him, and then sped up once more and appeared to purposefully touch wheels with the Mercedes star.
In the immediate aftermath of the race finish, Verstappen was slammed with a 10-second time penalty by FIA race stewards, demoting him all the way down to 10th in the Spanish GP.
Verstappen’s day goes from bad to worse
Four-time champion Verstappen’s late demotion led to a plethora of changes to the race result, with Nico Hulkenberg picking up a stunning 10-point haul for Sauber with a fifth-place finish.
It also means that Verstappen has lost out massively in his drivers’ championship battle, with Oscar Piastri winning the race and the other championship protagonist Lando Norris coming home in second.
Verstappen is now 49 points behind Piastri in the drivers’ championship, as hopes of a fifth consecutive title begin to fade.
Live on the Sky Sports F1 broadcast, Nico Rosberg believed that Verstappen should have been more heavily punished for his collision with Russell.
“That’s a very lenient one from my point of view,” he said following the announcement of Verstappen’s 10-second penalty. “Remember Sebastian Vettel against Lewis Hamilton in Baku 2017.”
