Following his collision with Lando Norris in the closing stages of the Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen received a second penalty. The Red Bull star led the race for the majority of it, but following a collision with Norris on lap 63, he ultimately finished fifth.
Verstappen qualified on pole position for the main event after winning the Sprint race on Saturday in Austria.
And at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, he looked to be in a two-way race with Norris to win the Grand Prix.
However, with eight circuits to go, Norris tried to pass him, and the two drivers collided, ruining his afternoon.
The crash brought an end to the race for the McLaren Ace, causing Verstappen to slip to sixth place and finish behind George Russell, the eventual winner, Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz, and Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen’s involvement in the altercation with Norris resulted in a 10-second penalty. And now that race stewards have added two penalty points to his super-licence, he has been further sanctioned. Over the course of a year, the 26-year-old has accrued four penalty points; if he receives a total of 12, he will be suspended.
According to a stewards’ official statement, “Car 1 [Verstappen] was entering Turn 3 with Car 4 [Norris] alongside on his left,” which prompted the time penalty.
Car 1’s driver swerved to the left before turning in, crashing into Car 4. The stewards find that Car 1’s driver was mostly at fault, and as a result, they apply the previously indicated penalty in accordance with past practices.
Verstappen is now only 31 points ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship standings at the end of the weekend, with the Ferrari driver putting pressure on the three-time champion.
Verstappen said, “The move we got together was something I didn’t expect,” in reference to the incident that occurred following the race. I expected him to come. I slightly protected the inside while braking. We made contact with the back tires, resulting in a puncture for each of us. Furthermore, it is something we hope never occurs.
“It wasn’t moving under braking for me since I wasn’t braking when I moved. Of course, that’s how things always appear on the outside, but I believe I know very well what to do in those situations.
Additionally, he was performing extremely late dive-bombs, throwing it up the inside, and expecting that the other men would avoid him and that you would turn the corner, which didn’t happen.
“It’s not necessarily about how you race, but that’s how the corner works.” I have also been in the other situation when you merely need to go for the corner’s shape.
