Juan Pablo Montoya has one ‘million-dollar question’ for F1 if the FIA issue Max Verstappen a race ban

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Max Verstappen is one penalty point away from being issued a race ban after his collision with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Red Bull panicked as they put Verstappen on hard tyres during the late safety car period caused by Kimi Antonelli’s retirement. This proved costly as the Dutchman struggled for pace, almost losing the back end at the restart.

Charles Leclerc passed Verstappen down the main straight before Russell forced him wide at turn one. Coming back onto the circuit ahead of the Brit, Red Bull told the four-time champion to hand the position back, seeing the risk of a penalty as too great.

In a moment of rage, the 27-year-old drove into Russell at turn five when he looked as though he would let him through. Verstappen eventually did at turn 12, but was hit with a 10-second time penalty – dropping him to 10th – and three penalty points to his superlicence.

Karun Chandhok spotted the moment Verstappen realised his mistake as there was radio silence at Red Bull from turn five to turn 12. Verstappen apologised to Red Bull in his debrief and accepted responsibility for his action on social media, but did not directly apologise to Russell.

The Dutchman has now accumulated 11 penalty points, putting him in danger of a race ban from the FIA. Such an outcome would be damaging for himself, the team, and for Juan Pablo Montoya, the sport itself.

Juan Pablo Montoya wonders if it will ‘really be a Grand Prix’ if the FIA issue Max Verstappen a race ban

Kevin Magnussen was the last driver to be suspended from a Grand Prix as he missed the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix for reaching 12 penalty points. Verstappen could well be next if he gets just one more point to his superlicence.

Red Bull ‘fear’ Verstappen getting banned for the Austrian GP as it would be ‘terrible’ for the team’s image. The fittingly-named Red Bull Ring sees thousands of Dutch fans come to the circuit every year to cheer on their hero.

A race ban for Verstappen would effectively end his and Red Bull’s season, but Montoya sees another issue with a possible suspension from the FIA. Speaking via AS Colombia, the former F1 driver’s ‘million-dollar question’ is whether the crowd numbers will plummet in Verstappen’s absence.

“Max, well, lost his mind,” he said, speaking about the incident in Barcelona. “The million-dollar question in all this: If, for some reason, Max is given [the] twelfth point, will it really be a Grand Prix without Max?

“I mean, if he does something in this and 90% of the stands are Dutch, nobody goes. You’re going to tell me they’re going to sabotage the race and nobody’s going to go.”

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Who will replace Max Verstappen at Red Bull if he is suspended for a Grand Prix?

The biggest question everyone will be asking is who Red Bull will choose to replace Verstappen in the event of a race suspension. The team will need to choose wisely, as Yuki Tsunoda is currently struggling to find results in the RB21.

Racing Bulls duo Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson would be the obvious candidates. The latter raced for the team in the opening two races before his demotion, while Hadjar is the ‘hottest candidate’ to replace Tsunoda with his impressive performances this season.

Given the Frenchman’s dominance over Lawson at Racing Bulls, it would be natural to assume that Hadjar would be afforded the chance. However, Red Bull see it as a chance to ‘test’ Ayumu Iwasa, with the reserve driver yet to make a Grand Prix appearance.

Arvid Lindblad is another option as Red Bull push to get the 17-year-old a superlicence. Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez will not stand in for Verstappen, as the team have no interest in offering them a one-off outing.