Max Verstappen in danger of missing one Grand Prix due to penalties: This is what could happen

Max Verstappen got into a big trouble last Sunday at Spanish GP in Barcelona, when he made contact, seemingly on purpose, against George Russell in the penultimate lap. He received a ten-second penalty that caused him drop from fifth to tenth place, losing valuable points and getting further and further from the top of the standings, led by Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

In an Instagram post, Verstappen gave an explanation to why he did it: "We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, until the Safety Car came out. Our tyre choice at the end and some moves after the Safety Car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn't have happened."

The problem with penalty points and Max Verstappen

Perhaps worst of all was that the penalty given to Verstappen amounted for three penalty points on his super licence. Each driver can have up to 11 penalty points: if they get 12 or more, they get an automatic one race ban.

Currently, Verstappen has 11, adding those 3 from Spain last weekend. The good thing for him is that penalty points expire after 12 months since the day drivers receive it, and Verstappen will lose two points at the end of June, caused by the collision with Norris in the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.

However, he needs to be extra careful in the next couple of races: Canada (June 15) and Austria (June 29). If he commits anything punishable in those Grand Prix, he would be banned from the following, which would be fatal in his aspirations for the title. Maybe Red Bull chooses to promote Liam Lawson or Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls in those cases, or bring one from their academy like Ayumu Iwasa or Arvid Lindblad.