“10 Second Penalty was Quite Enough!” F1 Pundit Slams Critics Over Max Verstappen Spanish GP Backlash

Veteran F1 journalist Peter Windsor hit out at critics for wanting to disqualify Max Verstappen from the Spanish GP.

“10 Second Penalty was Quite Enough!” F1 Pundit Slams Critics Over Max Verstappen Spanish GP Backlash

Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase (via Red Bull Content Pool)

Max Verstappen has found himself at the center of controversy yet again. During the Spanish GP, the Dutch driver collided with George Russell, ruining his own race. Verstappen received widespread criticism for his maneuver against the Mercedes driver. However, F1 Pundit Peter Windsor has now defended the reigning world champion.

During the race, a frustrated Verstappen was reluctantly giving back the position to George Russell after going off-track. Though, the Red Bull star ended up making contact with Russell as the Mercedes got alongside him. 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg declared that this collision was intentional and Max Verstappen should’ve been disqualified from the race. The Dutchman has refuted such claims.

While Ralf Schumacher hinted that perhaps this was a way for Verstappen to try and get out of his Red Bull contract via a performance clause. Albeit, Christian Horner labeled this theory as complete ‘nonsense.‘

Peter Windsor made it clear that Max Verstappen did face consequences for his move. The Dutchman was handed a ten-second time penalty with three penalty points added to his super license. Verstappen is now just one point away from a race ban.

The F1 veteran claimed that the reigning world champion should’ve been disqualified if the incident had taken place at high speeds, making it much more dangerous. Luckily for the Red Bull star, he only made contact mid-corner when both cars were quite slow.

I mean a 10 second penalty was quite enough. If he’d chosen to do it at some ridiculously high speed place and they’d both gone out, I think you’d be looking at a black flag.

Peter Windsor said on his YouTube channel

Peter Windsor makes Sebastian Vettel comparison to Max Verstappen’s Spanish GP clash

This is not the first time a driver has been accused of intentionally slamming the car into a rival. During the 2017 Azerbaijan GP, Sebastian Vettel rammed his car into the side of Lewis Hamilton‘s Mercedes during a Safety Car, after the German alleged that Hamilton tried to brake test him before the restart. Though, this case is different to that of Max Verstappen as Vettel had clearly made contact on purpose and did not deny it afterwards.

Sebastian Vettel (via IMAGO), Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
Sebastian Vettel (via IMAGO), Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

The German driver was handed a 10-second stop and go penalty by the stewards which took away all chances of a good result for the then-Ferrari star. Peter Windsor recalled that Sebastian Vettel did not receive such backlash at that time.

The 73-year-old joked that the German driver was a bit of a ‘wuss’ during the incident as he did it under Safety Car conditions. On the other hand, Max Verstappen was brave enough for the clash to happen on the racetrack. Moreover, Windsor asserted that critics did not go around demanding Vettel to be banned or disqualified from racing following that incident.

Vettel had to, what a wuss, he had to choose to do it behind the safety car when they’re all doing 30 kilometres an hour, at least Max did it on the racetrack, and nobody really held that against Vettel. Did they? I don’t recall all the Cognoscenti, as Murray Walker used to call them up in arms, because Vettel should be banned for a year.

Peter Windsor explained.

Windsor does have a valid point. While there is ambiguity over Max Verstappen’s clash with George Russell, Sebastian Vettel’s incident with Lewis Hamilton was quite clear. The German driver had indeed made contact on purpose.

However, Vettel had not tried to push Hamilton off-track or get his car damaged. Nevertheless, Verstappen remains positive that his collision was unintentional. Thus, the Dutchman has already served the penalty for his actions and now the paddock must move on from this incident.

Read More: Toto Wolff Labels Max Verstappen an ‘Angry Taxi Driver’ over George Russell Clash at Spanish GP