FIA Steward defends Verstappen after Spanish GP penalty: 'He’s not Vettel'

As the race restarted following the safety car triggered by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Verstappen found himself over the edge of grip and was overtaken with an on-the-limit move by Leclerc down the main straight and going into Turn 1 Russell had contact with the Dutchman which forced him to take the run-off.

Speaking with a betting site, Warwick said: “I can see why Max got angry, because I think he thought he was hard done by with Charles [Leclerc] on the straight and I think he thought he was hard done by George [Russell].”

The former Renault driver was referring to the three-stop strategy Red Bull attempted to give Verstappen a chance to win the race ahead of the dominant McLaren. However, the late safety car posed a major strategic setback for the Austrians who by then had run out of optimal tyres, forcing them to choose the unsuitable hard compound Pirelli tyres.

This, along with the incidents Verstappen experienced with Leclerc and Russell, Warwick believes tipped the Dutchman over the edge.

“Should he have done what he did, in Turn 5 with George Russell? Absolutely not. Did he get a penalty for it? Yes. He got 10 seconds and three points, which only brings him one point away from a race ban," was the Briton's assessment.  

For Warwick it wasn't a deliberate crash, unlike Vettel's. "So people are arguing that Vettel got a 10-second drive-through in Baku with Lewis Hamilton. But he intentionally drove into Lewis, whereas if you actually look at the video, it looks to me that although he dived in, he then did turn away from George, but the momentum carried him into George."

"I'm not condoning it. I'm not saying it's right. It's absolutely wrong, and the FIA quite rightly gave him a penalty. Should it have been harsher? I think they got it about right, actually. I think a lot of people would say he should have got a ban as an example to young karters, and they are probably right, but I feel the penalty was spot on," Warwick concluded.