If Max Verstappen owed some karmic debt to the cosmos, it was surely repaid through his outstandingly luckless Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
Of the many Red Bull fans who packed the team’s home circuit, none of those in the grandstands beyond turn three got to see him in action during the race. That was as far as he got before being harpooned by Andrea Kimi Antonelli.But Verstappen was doubly unfortunate, as he shouldn’t have been there for Antonelli’s out-of-control Mercedes to hit in the first place.
Verstappen lined up seventh on the grid, two places ahead of the Mercedes driver, after suffering more bad luck in qualifying. He was on course to set his quickest time of the session on his sole lap on new tyres in Q3 when he spotted a yellow flag as he approached turn nine, and backed off.
Red Bull reckoned he was on course to qualify at least third, potentially second (Oscar Piastri’s lap was also spoiled by the yellow flag, triggered by Pierre Gasly). Had Verstappen started where he might have, Antonelli’s victim would surely have been someone else.
Verstappen’s first no-score since his brake failure in Australia last year means he is now 61 points off the championship lead. With more than half of the season still to go, that’s close enough for him to overturn if he wins enough races.
But McLaren’s consistently strong performances over the opening rounds make it unlikely, even if their drivers keep taking points off each other. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner deemed Verstappen’s chances of a fifth consecutive title “unrealistic” after Sunday’s race.
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There was one crumb of comfort for Verstappen, though it was probably far from his mind as he left his bent RB21 behind in the turn three run-off area. Having left Austria without collecting any further penalty points, the risk he might trigger an automatic race ban has lessened.
The fact Verstappen avoided that was good news for him, as well as the Silverstone-bound F1 fans who will get to see the reigning world champion in action. What’s more, he will drop two penalty points before the next race, so the maximum danger point has now passed.
But information published for the first time by the FIA last week showed Verstappen should feel grateful he didn’t collect a ban before Austria.
The incident which pushed Verstappen up to 11 penalty points occured in Spain, when he collided with George Russell. This was a particularly egregious move which occured in unusual circumstances: Red Bull advised him to surrender his position to Russell, a view Verstappen disagreed with but followed (though the stewards later confirmed his suspicions that he did not need to give up the place).
The FIA stewards gave Verstappen three penalty points for the collision, ruling he “suddenly accelerated and collided” with Russell after slowing to let the Mercedes driver catch him.
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Since F1’s penalty points system was introduced in 2014, no F1 driver has ever been given more than three penalty points for a single incident. However it is an available penalty under the rules and has happened outside F1. Nikita Mazepin collected four points on his licence for causing a crash in Formula 2 six years ago.
According to the stewards, Verstappen was penalised for causing a collision. However F1’s penalty guidelines note four penalty points may be issued if the stewards rule a driver “caused a collision with apparent deliberate or reckless intent.”
It’s not hard to imagine a degree of reluctance on the part of the stewards. They would have been aware that issuing four penalty points would have triggered an automatic ban for Verstappen. Given that a four-point penalty had never previously been seen in F1, and the penalty guidelines were not published until after the Spanish Grand Prix, no doubt some would have accused the stewards of treating Verstappen unfairly.
The stewards have previously appeared to be lenient towards a driver who was on the cusp of receiving a ban. At the 2023 Australian Grand Prix Gasly, who was on 10 penalty points at the time, avoided a sanction after causing a collision with another driver after leaving the track and rejoining in a queue of cars following a standing restart.
The two penalty points Verstappen collected for colliding with Lando Norris in last year’s Austrian Grand Prix have now expired. He therefore drops to a total of nine.
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The threat of a ban hasn’t receded entirely for Verstappen. He still has a higher penalty points tally than anyone else on the grid and three more will trigger a ban. What’s more, no further points will come off until after the Mexican Grand Prix, which is not for another nine rounds.
And now the FIA has made it clear what sanctions are expected for which incidents, the stewards can expect even closer scrutiny over the penalties they give all drivers, however close they are to being banned.
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2025 Austrian Grand Prix
- Wiping Verstappen out in Austria wasn’t as bad as Monza debut crash – Antonelli
- Piastri explains “f*** me up” radio message after third run-in with an Alpine at Austrian GP
- Bortoleto admits he made a “mistake” in fight with “very smart” Alonso at Austrian GP
- Tsunoda on longest point-less run for a Red Bull driver in 16 years: Austrian GP stats
- “Confused” Russell couldn’t tell if Leclerc was “trying to help me or Lewis” at start
Craig
30th June 2025, 12:13
“If Max Verstappen owed some karmic debt to the cosmos, it was surely repaid”
If you believe in that sort of thing, not by a long shot
S Arkazam
30th June 2025, 13:27
It would be interesting though if FIA were to move to some kind of karmic bank account calculation for the demerit points. Drivers with many points can do a good deed (e.g. give a tow to a Sauber in Q3) to lower their points tally.
It’s a circus already; why not go the full monty?
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
30th June 2025, 12:24
I thought pretty much this when it happened.
The chances of Max catching and duelling with both George and Lewis were high in my opinion, and who knows what incidents/decisions may have occurred.
Better to miss out on one race than two.
Max is still close enough to fight for the WDC.
All he needs is for the McLaren kids to start playing rough with each other and they may just hand it to him.
anon
30th June 2025, 15:19
@nullapax at 61 points behind, he’s going to need to catch Piastri at a rate of at least 5 points a race to be able to overtake him at the end of the season.
Whilst not impossible, the odds don’t look particularly favourable. Red Bull have looked most competitive at circuits that had a balance towards high speed corners and cooler ambient temperatures, whereas McLaren have tended to look at their strongest at circuits where the ambient temperatures have been high, and at circuits where low to medium speed corners are more common.
There are a few upcoming races that might therefore be better for Red Bull – Silverstone is perhaps one opportunity – but quite a few of the upcoming races are likely to have corner types and ambient conditions that will probably favour McLaren, and to some extent Ferrari too (or, perhaps more accurately, be less of a disadvantage to Ferrari than they are to Mercedes and Red Bull).
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
30th June 2025, 16:06
It is a stretch I agree, but if anyone on the grid is aggressive/determined/nasty enough to do it, then Max is that man I would say.
Looks like we are in for a fun season no matter what …. but wouldn’t it be scintillating to see Max just grab a few wins here and there and stay right on their tail ;)
Steve (@scbriml)
30th June 2025, 17:33
Verstappen has two chances for the WDC – slim and none. Slim’s already saddled up his horse and is ready to leave town.
Lewis
1st July 2025, 14:30
No don’t think so WDC is over for Max, unfortunately. Missed him in this race, was not much fun without him.
dbr
30th June 2025, 12:37
I’d say the risk is still high. Can’t imagine Verstappen going 9 rounds without some dodgy incidents.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
30th June 2025, 13:02
‘karma is coming’ right back at you but it seems the Dutch are not quite as fanatical as we once thought
Mal Ross (@malross)
30th June 2025, 13:08
“What precisely was his motive for slowing to allow Russell alongside him, then accelerating and driving wide of the apex and making contact with the Mercedes?”
I’m no fan of Verstappen’s aggression, but I always thought it was pretty clear he was simply fulfilling the “let him past” requirement on paper and then attempting to regain the place by catching Russell off-guard, *immediately* going very deep and bullying him into going wide i.e. his typical divebomb tactics. I never really felt he was actively *trying* to make contact. A bit reckless maybe, but I’m baffled by people claiming to not understand it. He was just driving to the letter of the law* and pushing the boundaries as usual.
(*The fact that, in hindsight, he didn’t need to let Russell past is of little relevance.)
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
30th June 2025, 13:39
Its pretty clear from even the most myopic Max fans what he did and he effectively admitted to it. If he was going for the overtake he was way too deep and in any case the rule book that he studies so closely doesnt allow an overtake immediately following giving a place back. Hope this helps your bafflement
Matthijs (@matthijs)
30th June 2025, 13:50
I am not a myopic Max fan, maybe not even a fan. But I still miss the reason behind WHY he ran into Russell in the first place.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
30th June 2025, 14:24
Just because theres not a rationale explanation doesnt mean theres not a simple explanation. He lost it, pure and simple. Hes human, he made a mistake. A Very big one in my view
MacLeod (@macleod)
1st July 2025, 8:02
He didn’t admitted he wanted to crash into George only that he made an mistake.
Terrion (@terrion)
30th June 2025, 13:09
So instead of potentially not scoring points in one race due to ban, he did not score points due to crash and is still pretty darn close to receiving said ban. Lucky him
Hannesch (@hannesch)
30th June 2025, 23:13
Quote of the year
Patrick (@paeschli)
2nd July 2025, 8:17
I’m sure he’s feeling grateful
Matthijs (@matthijs)
30th June 2025, 13:49
Things like this happen, so move on. But implying that he is lucky that he DNFed before he could collect a penalty point is pretty farfetched. In hindsight a ban for Austria would have been better for Verstappen than a DNF because in the first scenario his points tally was erased.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
30th June 2025, 13:56
I thought he was unlucky to have retired in Austria and that he was fortunate to have avoided in a penalty in Spain – not Austria – which is an important difference.
SteveP
30th June 2025, 18:55
The four point penalty is one I hadn’t noted previously.
I think that he is extremely fortunate to have avoided a 4-point penalty in Mexico last year, as well as Spain this year.
David BR (@david-br)
30th June 2025, 23:09
TBH it was fairly clear that was what you meant. Though initially I thought the idea was that he was lucky he wasn’t disqualified and didn’t receive a one race ban (at least) on that basis, not that he could have received more than 3 penalty points.
An Sionnach
30th June 2025, 14:56
I wanted a bigger penalty for a move so reckless that intent does not matter. The number of penalty points handed out was the same as what Vettel got for deliberately causing a collision in retribution for a perceived slight. This is consistent. If Max also got a ten second stop-go penalty, then he would have scored no points. He’s lucky to have that point, but I’m doubtful it will matter.
Elena
30th June 2025, 16:58
In the end Vettel’s punishment hurt him even less, as he was still able to finish 4th and score 12 points.
Señor Sjon
30th June 2025, 15:46
I think he wanted to show how ridiculous those rules are (remember he was shoved off at SA T1 as well and got a penalty for that one). So with Russell barging in and forcing him off – with his team telling him to yield – he probably thought history repeated itself. So if he pushed Russell outwards, he would have been in his right by that logic.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
30th June 2025, 16:21
Yes naughty Russel, fancy trying to overtake. He deserved to be rammed on purpose
Jojo
30th June 2025, 16:52
I think for sure he was just trying to do to Russell what he felt Russell had done to him by making contact on the way past. The difference was the intention.
I don’t think he was trying to take Russell out or anything quite as drastic as that, (otherwise he would have succeeded or managed to cause actual damage at the very least), for that reason I think 3 penalty points and a 10 second penalty was correct from the stewards. If a driver was to intentionally crash a rival out of the race or cause big damage, then that would be where I’d call for DSQ and a race ban.
JOHANNES VAN ES
30th June 2025, 16:48
Max seems to not like backstabbers like George the complainer.
I am sure that if Mercedes put a phone in his car that he’ll be on the phone to his daddy and the marshals all the time complaining that someone is going to slow or maybe even that the other guys are not fair to him because they don’t let him win every race.
How long did it take him to come on the air in the last race, Austria, and complain? Not very long.
Poor George.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
30th June 2025, 16:57
Accusing George of being a “Daddies Boy” when you look at the Verstappen family is pretty hilarious to be honest.
Steve (@scbriml)
30th June 2025, 17:35
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
sam
30th June 2025, 18:21
How is yesterdays result for him any different than a race ban?
Chris
30th June 2025, 19:21
Indeed, with a race ban his penalty points would have been removed, no?
osnola
30th June 2025, 21:01
Its even worse.. with a ban he would have lost his penalty points and started clean.
XV
30th June 2025, 21:01
Wonder if Antonelli got in trouble with Wolff for crashing into his favourite driver.
David BR (@david-br)
30th June 2025, 23:07
[wry smile] Somehow that rings true! Wolff has managed to sound possessed by the spirit of Horner this season.
Ideals (@ideals)
30th June 2025, 21:11
Surely you’re done with articles about this now, yes?
Genghis Blond
1st July 2025, 2:28
Not a one.
Genghis Blond
1st July 2025, 2:26
8 drivers went 24 races without a penalty point. 4 went 24 races with three or less penalty points. So, it wouldn’t have been hard to get through the GP without getting a point. So, no, he shouldn’t feel lucky. But, mission accomplished, I’m sure this will generate many posts.
FTR, I don’t like Max, but all these Max/penalty points articles are a bit transparent.