Verstappen Penalized Following Spanish Grand Prix Collision with Russell
Max Verstappen received a 10-second penalty after colliding with George Russell's Mercedes during the Spanish Grand Prix, dropping him from fifth to 10th place in the final standings. The incident left Verstappen 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, who secured victory ahead of teammate Lando Norris for McLaren. Russell commented on the collision: "Totally unnecessary and sort of lets him down. I don't know what he was thinking. It doesn't really make sense to deliberately crash into somebody and risk damaging your own car, risk a penalty. In the end, I'm not going to lose sleep over it because I ultimately benefited from those antics." Verstappen responded, "He has his view, I have my view," and indicated he would "bring some tissues next time." He acknowledged the incident as "a misjudgment" but declined to engage in a detailed discussion. […]