FIA penalty points will make Verstappen “be more careful”

Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting says Max Verstappen’s penalty points record will make him “take notice” on his future actions after another high-profile on-track incident.

The Red Bull driver admitted fault and apologised for clattering into the side of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages of the Chinese Grand Prix after locking his rear brakes which pushed him into the German driver and spent both of them into a spin.

Verstappen was slapped with a 10-second post-race time penalty for his part in the crash which dropped him down to fifth place behind Lewis Hamilton in the final race results, while Vettel also lost out by finishing eighth.

FIA race director Whiting feels he does not need to pull Verstappen aside to warn him about his driving standards, having been involved in another clash last week with Hamilton at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix, and feels his penalty points tally will be a suitable warning.

Verstappen picked up two penalty points for hitting Vettel which expands his 12-month period total to five. If an F1 driver picks up 12 penalty points over a one-year period he will face an automatic one-race suspension.

“I think the stewards have done their bit, I don't think there's any necessity to do speak to Verstappen,” Whiting said. “I think he made a mistake and he got penalised for it.

“There is probably is a little bit of criticism but that's what the penalty point are there for. They're there to make stop habitual offenders. It will make him take notice that he's got five penalty points now so he's going to be a bit more careful.”

The last F1 driver to be hit with a one-race suspension was Romain Grosjean after he was blamed for the first corner pile up at the start of the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix which saw him banned for the Italian race.