With 11 penalty points on his licence, the reigning world champion finds himself on the brink of a race ban – a sanction that could effectively ruin his already fading chances of defending his title this year.

On-board footage of Max Verstappen’s incident with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix appears to show the Red Bull driver was clearly in the wrong.

Formula 1 ’s penalty points system has been placed under the spotlight after Max Verstappen ’s punishment for his collision with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Dutchman was handed a 10-second time penalty for ramming Russell late in the race, before the FIA gave the Red Bull driver three penalty points on his FIA superlicence.