Spanish GP: Max Verstappen one penalty point from race ban after George Russell clash - ESPN

Max Verstappen is one penalty point away from a race ban after the stewards at the Spanish Grand Prix found him responsible for causing a collision with George Russell on Sunday.

Verstappen was penalized 10 seconds in Sunday's race, leaving him 10th at the finish, and given three additional penalty points on his super license.

The four-time world champion has 11 points on his super license in total, with F1's rules stating that 12 in a 12-month period will result in a single-race suspension.

Two of Verstappen's 11 points will expire when they become 12 months old on June 30, meaning Verstappen must avoid any penalties over the next two races in Canada and Austria in order to gain extra breathing room for the rest of the season.

A further two points will expire on October 27, meaning Verstappen will remain three points away from a ban until after the Mexican Grand Prix even if he avoids any extra points before June 30. Verstappen collided with Russell shortly after his chances of a podium finish were scuppered by a late safety car in Spain.

The Red Bull driver was running third when the safety car was deployed, but because he had already used his allocation of soft and medium tires over a three-stop strategy, he had only a set of hard tires left to fit when he pitted under the safety car.

The two cars behind him — Charles Leclerc and Russell — both fitted soft tires under the safety car and therefore had a tyre advantage when racing resumed.

Leclerc passed Verstappen shortly after they crossed the start finish line to resume racing, while Russell attempted a move into Turn 1 that saw the Mercedes driver slide into Verstappen and force the Red Bull driver wide.

The stewards launched an investigation into the incident,