Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has insisted Max Verstappen must now refrain from any “rash” decisions as he lies one penalty point away from a Formula 1 race ban.
Verstappen has 11 points on his superlicence, with 12 condemning him to a one-race suspension, after his late-race collision with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Dutchman was initially unrepentant about the manoeuvre, but later made a U-turn, saying it “should not have happened”.
Verstappen first began to accrue these points at the Austrian Grand Prix last year, after another late-race collision, on this occasion with title rival Lando Norris.
This means that after this year’s race at Spielberg, which is two weeks away, the penalty points will start to reduce on his licence.
Despite being the focal point, and to many the golden child of the Red Bull team, Verstappen is not immune to a dressing down from the team’s hierarchy if necessary.
Writing in his Speedweek column, Marko made it clear that the next two races mean that Verstappen must exercise extreme caution when it comes to any moves on track.
“Now he mustn’t do anything wrong over the next two race weekends, and of course he will be told not to do anything rash,” he wrote.
“It would be a disaster if he couldn’t start in Austria.
“But we don’t expect that to happen, because it’s not really the case that Max does anything wrong in every race. The first penalty points will be cancelled after Austria.”
How ‘bitter pills’ put Verstappen on brink of F1 race ban
Meanwhile, Marko has stated that several “bitter pills” mounted to culminate in the contact with Russell that has placed Verstappen in grave danger of missing a race.
“You have to look at the overall situation,” the Austrian highlighted. “Firstly, he was given the Hard tyre even though he didn’t want it.
Then there was this swerve on the first lap, which almost sent him flying off.
“Next, Leclerc drives into the side of his car at a good 300 km/h. That went completely under the radar and was also very dangerous. Naturally, the atmosphere was tense as a result.
“Finally, there was an incident with Russell. And Max, who knows the regulations inside out, said that he didn’t have to give the place back.
“But he was told that he had to give the position back. That was a lot of bitter pills for him to swallow. On top of that, Russell is not exactly his best friend.”
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