12/06/2025 17:15
Jacques Villeneuve believes George Russell should have actually
been penalised before his controversial clash with Max Verstappen
in Spain. After the late safety car restart, Russell barged
Verstappen wide at Turn 1, with Red Bull informing the Dutchman
that it thought he had better let Russell through to avoid a
penalty. But in doing so, Verstappen appeared to ram into Russell
at Turn 5, for which he earned a 10-second time penalty and three
penalty points, taking him to 11 for the 12-month period and one
point away from a race ban. Russell did not receive any sanction
for the Turn 1 incident, but 1997 world champion Villeneuve
believes this was a mistake from the stewards. "It was not
intentional; it happened in the heat of the moment," Villeneuve
told BetVictorCasino. " He immediately wanted to regain the
position, but completely messed it up, and people immediately
shouted that he did it on purpose and that he wanted to crash
Russell out. "The crazy thing is: Russell deserved a penalty. He
hit Max on the rear wheel entering Turn 1. "According to the
rules, that leads to forcing a collision and pushing another driver
off the track. So why didn't he get a penalty for that? "If there
are rules, they should always apply to everyone. Russell deserved a
penalty." "Verstappen lost a lot of points because of that penalty;
he only got 10th. "He knows he doesn't have the best car, then to
still get results, he has to drive at the limit, or even over it,
and at some point that leads to mistakes or misjudgments, and that
makes his fight for the world title a lot harder."
