FIA steward Derek Warwick has defended Max Verstappen following claims from numerous critics who suggested the four-time F1 champion should have been black-flagged from the Spanish Grand Prix.
Warwick can understand Verstappen's moment of anger that led to him running into the side of Mercedes' George Russell, and whilst far from condoning the manoeuvre, feels the stewards on site at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya made the correct call.
The incident followed a safety car restart late in the 66-lap race after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli had retired. Verstappen had been switched onto hard tyres during the pit-stop phase, whilst all his rivals around him were on softs.
When the racing resumed, Verstappen's 'colder' rubber almost led to him losing control of his Red Bull along the main straight, allowing Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to pass for third position.
In Turn 1, Verstappen was then immediately attacked by Russell, whose move failed, forcing the Dutchman to take to the escape route.
Red Bull, fearing a 10-second penalty as occurred to Verstappen during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when he failed to hand back a place to McLaren's Oscar Piastri, ordered him to give back fourth place to Russell.
Verstappen was furious. On lap 64, coming out of Turn 4, Verstappen backed off, appearing to let Russell by, only to immediately increase his speed again, and run into the side of Russell.
The 10-second penalty on this occasion for causing a collision demoted Verstappen to 10th at the chequered flag, and put a severe dent in his F1 title hopes.
Warwick, who will be stewarding at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix in place of Enrique Bernoldi, said: "I can see why Max got angry, because I think he thought he was hard done by with Charles on the straight and I think he thought he was hard done by George.
Speaking to Plejmo, Warwick added: "The team then asked him to give the place back, and he didn't think that was right, and that led to the collision.
"I think everybody's got to realise that when you're a racing driver and you're used to winning like Max is, it's very difficult when things start going against you in a race that, on paper, with a three stop, looks like you might win, and we all know he's a winner.
"Should he have done what he did, in Turn 5 with George Russell? Absolutely not. Did he get a penalty for it? Yes. He got 10 seconds and three points, which only brings him one point away from a race ban.
"So people are arguing that Vettel got a 10-second drive-through in Baku with Lewis Hamilton. But he intentionally drove into Lewis, whereas if you actually look at the video, it looks to me that although he dived in, he then did turn away from George, but the momentum carried him into George.
"I'm not condoning it. I'm not saying it's right. It's absolutely wrong, and the FIA quite rightly gave him a penalty.
"Should it have been harsher? I think they got it about right, actually. I think a lot of people would say he should have got a ban as an example to young karters, and they are probably right, but I feel the penalty was spot on.
"You've got to look at each individual incident on their own merit. I thought it was very questionable. It's not what I like to see."
Warwick's comments to a betting website come in a year when Johnny Herbert was dropped from his role as an FIA steward at the end of January. The FIA said at the time that Herbert's "duties as an FIA steward and that of a media pundit were incompatible".
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