Russell: Verstappen race ban would be justified

George Russell claimed a race ban for Max Verstappen would be justified as the reigning world champion heads into this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix on the verge of triggering a race suspension.

Verstappen was given a 10-seond time penalty which dropped him to 10th at the Spanish Grand Prix after colliding with Russell in a move the Mercedes driver felt was deliberate.

The stewards also gave Verstappen three penalty points on his super licence which puts him on 11 points for the last year. If a driver reaches 12 penalty points over a 12-month period, they are banned for the next event.

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It means Verstappen, who accepted blame for the incident and apologised to his team, will have two penalty points dropped off his total after the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of this month but will have to navigate clean weekends in the next two races in Canada and Austria to avoid a race ban.

"If he gets to 12 points it [a ban] wouldn't be unjust," said Russell to the media in Montreal.

"At the end of the day, that's why the penalty points are there. If you keep driving recklessly you will accumulate points, and get punished with a race ban. You've got it in your own hands and it doesn't go without risk.

"He was trying to run me off the road. I don't think he was trying to intentionally crash into me. He wanted to just sort of scare me a bit, but he just misjudged it. Again, it wasn't going to scare me, it was just all a bit surprising.

"I'm not looking for an apology. His actions cost him and they benefited me, so I should be almost thanking him.

"Obviously I'd be feeling very differently if it took me out of the race. But it is good to see that he took accountability. I was a bit surprised about that."

More to follow...

Sky Sports F1's Canadian GP schedule

Friday June 13
4pm: F1 Academy Practice One
6pm: Canadian GP Practice One (session starts at 6.30pm)
8pm: The F1 Show
9pm: Team Principals' Press Conference
9.30pm: Canadian GP Practice Two (session starts at 10pm)
11.25pm: F1 Academy Qualifying

Saturday June 14
2.10pm: F1 Academy Race One
5.15pm: Canadian GP Practice Three (session starts at 5.30pm)
7.30pm: F1 Academy Race Two
8.30pm: Canadian GP Qualifying build-up
9pm: CANADIAN GP QUALIFYING
11pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook

Sunday June 15
3.50pm: F1 Academy Race Three
5.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Canadian GP build-up*
7pm: THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX*
9pm: Chequered Flag: Canadian GP reaction
10pm: Ted's Notebook

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

The 2025 Formula 1 season resumes live on Sky Sports F1 with the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime.