Max Verstappen Won’t Change Driving Despite Ban Threat

With a race ban looming if he collects just one more penalty point, Max Verstappen is adamant that his driving style will remain unchanged heading into the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix.

The reigning Formula One champion enters the weekend on thin ice after his run-in with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix bumped his penalty points total to 11. One more in the next two races, and Verstappen would face a one-race suspension — something that has never happened in his F1 career.

Despite the risk, Verstappen says he won’t be dialing things down.

“No, nothing changes. No [change in approach],” Verstappen told reporters. “I cannot just back out of everything. I’m just going to race like I always do, I trust myself. Is it fair that I’m on 11 points? I don’t know. But at the same time, life isn’t fair. I don’t worry about it, I just come here to race and I will always race hard.”

He added: “I’m not here, of course, to try and get a ban.”

FIA stewards can issue penalty points for a variety of on-track infractions, from causing collisions to breaching Virtual Safety Car protocols. Accumulating 12 within a 12-month span leads to an automatic one-race suspension.

Pressed on whether he believes his current total is fair, Verstappen said: “I don’t need to go into that to be honest. I mean, what is fair?

“If you look at it like that. I don’t worry about it. I just come here to race. And I will always race hard. Race how I think I should race. And then we go on to the next race.”

The incident in Spain — which saw Verstappen forcefully cut into Russell’s car — sparked criticism. Initially, Verstappen showed little remorse publicly. But shortly afterwards, he addressed the clash on social media, acknowledging that it “was not right” and “shouldn’t have happened.”

Explaining that post ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Verstappen said: “[The post was] sharing my view of things, how I thought that race panned out. Not ideal for me, but that was my statement. And then I went back to enjoying my day.

“It was a misjudgment, you know, clearly in the corner. But you don’t need to go into full detail of why, how and what. Everyone makes mistakes in life. Everyone learns from them and we just move on.”

Currently sitting third in the Drivers’ Championship standings, Verstappen trails McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 49 points.