Max Verstappen had a clash with George Russell towards the end of the Spanish GP, which had dire consequences. The Dutchman was ordered to give the position back by Red Bull, which he did at turn 5, but then turned in on the Mercedes driver.
The resulting penalty cost Verstappen dearly, with ten seconds added to his race time, dropping him to tenth place. He also had three penalty points put on his super licence, leaving him one point from a race ban. FIA race steward Derek Warwick has weighed in on the incident, a move that could result in his removal from his position.
Derek Warwick could face a ban after commenting on the Max Verstappen and George Russell clash
Derek Warwick believes the penalty for Max Verstappen was the correct decision, after other pundits like Nico Rosberg called for the Dutchman to be disqualified. Warwick spoke to a gambling site about the incident, saying that what Verstappen had was wrong.
Max Verstappen Faces Race Ban Threat After Spanish GP Penalty
He said: “Should he have done what he did, in Turn 5 with George Russell? Absolutely not. Did he get a penalty for that? Yes. Sebastian Vettel was once given a 10-second drive-through penalty in Baku after an incident with Lewis Hamilton [in 2017], but he deliberately drove into Lewis.”
“Whereas if you watch this video, it seems to me that although he dove in, he then did turn away from George, but momentum pushed him against George. It is absolutely wrong, and the FIA was right to give him a penalty. I think the penalty was perfect. You have to look at each incident individually. This is not what I like to see.”
The issue for Warwick is that he is a current FIA steward, last seen at the Miami GP. Last season, Johnny Herbert spoke to the media about Max Verstappen’s incidents with Lando Norris in Mexico. Herbert was part of the stewarding team that awarded the four-time world champion two ten-second time penalties.
Herbert lost his position as a steward, with the FIA citing that Herbert had a “conflict of interest” with his media duties. Warwick might find himself in a similar situation after talking about the Verstappen clash in Barcelona.
