F1 News: Max Verstappen And George Russell Receive Penalties After Las Vegas GP Blunders

Both drivers received penalty points on their super licenses.

Apart from the time penalties Max Verstappen and George Russell received during the Las Vegas Grand Prix, both drivers have also attracted penalty points on their super licenses.

Russell was handed a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Verstappen during the race, while Verstappen was handed a similar penalty for pushing Charles Leclerc off the track in the opening lap of the Grand Prix.

Russell served his penalty by being dropped four places at the chequered flag, while Verstappen served his penalty at his first pit stop. But the punishment doesn't end there. Both drivers also attracted penalty points on their licenses for the next year.

The rulebook states that drivers can be allowed up to 11 penalty points on their super licenses in a rolling one-year period. Attracting 12 can cause a driver to be levied with a one-race ban. 

Verstappen and Russell each received two points for their infractions in Las Vegas, which brings Verstappen's points total to two back from zero, as his license was cleared in the previous race in Sao Paulo. Meanwhile, Russell now has a total of four points.

Both drivers accepted responsibility for their acts. Revealing the details of the incident that unfolded in the opening lap, Verstappen told the media:

“I didn’t mean to push Charles [Leclerc] off the track, but I couldn’t slow down. I kept sliding on four wheels, wide.

“So that’s why we had to go wide.

“At the time, also from adrenaline, I was not happy with the decision.

“But, looking back at it, that was probably the right call. After that, of course, with those five seconds, it was definitely a bit harder to come back to the front.”

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Russell owned up:

“The incident with Max [Verstappen] was totally my fault. I didn’t see him, he was totally in my blind spot going around Turn 11.

“I wasn’t really expecting the overtake there because we’ve got the big long straight with the DRS afterward.

“We were on course for an easy podium then, it was pretty straightforward. So we recovered to P4.

“But then the five-second penalty knocks us down to P8. Just this season is sort of one thing after another but then, ultimately, the pace wasn’t quite… it was strong, but not as strong as the Red Bull and the Ferraris.”