Max Verstappen slams ‘childish’ questions of penalty points and ban
15th June 2025Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has voiced his frustration at being questioned about a potential race ban and his penalty points, as he prepares to start alongside Mercedes’ George Russell.
Feature image credit: Getty Images // Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen qualified second for the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday and will start alongside Mercedes’ George Russell, who qualified on pole position, for Sunday’s race.
In the post-qualifying interviews, Russell quipped at Verstappen’s position, claiming he has ‘a few more points’ on his licence to play with compared to the Dutchman, before stating, “We’re mates, so it’s all good.”
The topic was revisited in the post-qualifying press conference, where Verstappen claimed he didn’t ‘need to hear it again.’ He said:
“I don’t need to hear it again. It’s really p*****g me off. I mean, you were speaking about it on Thursday.
“It’s such a waste of time. It’s very childish. So, that’s why I also don’t want to say too much because it’s really annoying, this world that we live in.”
Verstappen has been under the spotlight in the media this week as it’s the first race weekend following the Spanish Grand Prix, where he was given three penalty points.
He now sits on 11 points of an allowed 12. If he hits the mark, the Dutchman will receive a race ban. It was something which had only been activated once, last year, by Kevin Magnussen.
In Spain, it was deemed that Verstappen deliberately hit Russell after he was ordered to let the Mercedes driver through. However, this is not the only time the two have butted heads.
Verstappen was unhappy with Russell in Qatar last season, as the four-time world champion believed Russell was trying to get him a penalty. The latter was also unhappy with Verstappen’s comments afterwards.
They also had a heated moment in parc ferme after colliding in the opening corners of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Sprint Race.
This pole position marks the first pole position for Russell and Mercedes of the 2025 season, who remain winless so far this season.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Isack Hadjar gets three-place grid drop for Canada GP
- George Russell pips Verstappen to Canada GP pole position
- Yuki Tsunoda given 10-place grid penalty for Canada red flag breach
- Lando Norris tops final practice of Canada GP ahead of Leclerc
- Lance Stroll return confirmed ahead of F1 Canadian GP
- F1 and FIA announce 2026 Calendar
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
