Lewis Hamilton save as Max Verstappen and George Russell given extra F1 punishment by Las Vegas GP stewards

Max Verstappen and George Russell receive additional F1 penalties from Las Vegas GP stewards.

Max Verstappen and George Russell were both given penalty points during the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but a second time penalty was given to the race for the offence.

Max Verstappen and George Russell both received penalties in addition to time penalties during the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Both drivers received in-race penalties for their on-track behavior during the night race at Sin City. Both incidents involved Dutchman Verstappen, who was at the center of the incident until he won his 18th title in 2023. He was penalized for the first thing he did after the lights went out. He had a slightly better shot than pole-holder Charles Leclerc and they entered the first corner side by side.

However, Verstappen, who was on the inside, went off the track and also pushed the Ferrari over the white line. The stewards took their time over the incident and did not consider it necessary for the Red Bull driver to give up his seat. In the end, it was decided that a five-second penalty shot was appropriate for the three-time world champion. Russell later received the same penalty for colliding with Verstappen. The Red Bull driver was trying to move up in the standings after receiving a self-penalty for a pit stop when he collided with the Brit on the track. He tried to overtake on the inside, but Mercedes probably didn’t know he was there. This caused damage to the front wing and ultimately didn’t cost Verstappen too much, but the stewards still felt a penalty was necessary for Russell. Verstappen overcame the penalty to win the race and Russell extended his time by 5 seconds without pitting until the end. He was fourth on the track when he took the checkered flag, but dropped to eighth after taking the checkered flag. In addition to these penalties, both drivers also received penalty points on their racing licences. Verstappen was clean so his total is now two and Russell’s is four. Both are still well over the 12 mark so a single race ban applies. Both drivers admitted they deserved the punishment. Verstappen: “My aim was not to push Charles off the track, but I couldn’t slow him down. It caused a wide slide on all four wheels. So we had to go to a bigger place. At the time, I wasn’t happy with the decision because of the adrenaline. But in retrospect it was probably the right thing to do.”

Russell explained: “What happened to Max was my fault. I didn’t see it and until I was 11 it was in my blind spot. I didn’t expect to overtake here as it makes up a lot of the length with DRS afterwards. Back then we were walking on the catwalk of light, it was very simple. So we moved up to 4th, but the 5 second penalty put us in 8P.”