Breaking news
Formula 1 Chinese GP
FIA expects more caution from Verstappen in future
Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting expects more caution from Max Verstappen after the Red Bull driver's Chinese Grand Prix collision with Sebastian Vettel prompted more penalty points.
Scott Mitchell
Edited: Apr 16, 2018, 10:45 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Verstappen tapped Vettel into a spin at the Turn 14 hairpin, which earned Verstappen a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points added to his licence.
It means Verstappen now has five penalty points, with drivers receiving an automatic one-race ban if they hit 12 points in a 12-month period.
Whiting said: "There probably is a little bit of criticism but that's what the penalty points are for.
"They are there to make an habitual offender take notice. He's got five points now, so he's going to be more careful I would say."
Verstappen's penalty points tally will not decrease until after the Hungarian Grand Prix.
He picked up two points for hitting his teammate Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 2 on the opening lap of last year's race at Budapest on July 30.
That means his licence will not be cleared of those points after this year's July 29 race.
The other point on his licence was earned in the United States Grand Prix on October 22, when he was controversially punished for going off-track to overtake Kimi Raikkonen on the final lap.
Verstappen has come under fire in the last week following a clash with Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain that was also investigated by the stewards, who took no further action.
His swift acceptance of responsibility in China, and subsequent apology, was praised by Vettel, and Whiting said he saw no reason to have a private chat with Verstappen.
"The stewards have done their bit I don't think there's any necessity for that," he said. He made a mistake, which he got penalised for."
Though Verstappen said he did not need to change his aggressive driving style, his team boss Christian Horner is "fully confident" he will learn from his mistake.
"He's a phenomenal talent, he's smart enough to recognise areas that he needs to work on," he said. "I've got no doubt that he'll address that."
Additional reporting by Edd Straw
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Hamilton feared he would crash into Vettel/Verstappen
Next article Bottas avoided clash in "brutal" Ricciardo pass - Mercedes
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
More from
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen stars with 15-place charge in 45 minutes: 'I learned a lot and had fun'
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
Portimão
2 h
Max Verstappen stars with 15-place charge in 45 minutes: 'I learned a lot and had fun'
Nicki Thiim's cheeky F1 jab: "Max Verstappen just wants to drive a proper race car!"
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
Nicki Thiim's cheeky F1 jab: "Max Verstappen just wants to drive a proper race car!"
More from
Red Bull Racing
How Geri Halliwell helped Christian Horner deal with fan hate
Formula 1
Formula 1 2 h
How Geri Halliwell helped Christian Horner deal with fan hate
Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?
Latest news
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Japanese GP
11 min
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
Kyle Busch remembered: Rowdy’s most notable Phoenix moments
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
37 min
Kyle Busch remembered: Rowdy’s most notable Phoenix moments
How Geri Halliwell helped Christian Horner deal with fan hate
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 2 h
How Geri Halliwell helped Christian Horner deal with fan hate
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe