Martin Brundle makes surprise 'four-point' penalty call on Max Verstappen

Martin Brundle has insisted that Max Verstappen deserved the full four penalty points the F1 stewards could have handed him in Barcelona, following his clash with George Russell.

The four-time world champion received three penalty points and a 10-second time penalty for his incident with Russell in the Spanish Grand Prix, moving him just one penalty point away from a race ban. 

In addition, his time penalty demoted Verstappen to 10th, increasing his deficit to Oscar Piastri in the drivers' title to 49 points. 

Verstappen did make a perfect start to the Canadian Grand Prix after topping first practice, although former F1 driver Brundle does not believe the Dutchman should even be driving. 

Whilst he believes a black flag would have been too far in Spain, Brundle is adamant the stewards should have awarded the full four penalty points which could have been awarded based on the guidelines. 

Furthermore, Brundle also claimed that a drive-through penalty would have been more appropriate than a 10-second time penalty, to the extent that he called the stewards "lenient". 

Whilst analysing the Turn 5 clash on Sky F1, Brundle said: "George will have been told, Max has been told to give the position back, and it looks like he was doing that to all intents and purposes.

"And that gave him three penalty points and a 10-second penalty. I would have given him the full four that the stewards could do in the guidelines, and the equivalent of a drive-through, a 30-second penalty. 

"I wouldn't have black flagged him, because you don't know all the facts. Did he have a steering issue? Did he have a throttle issue? That's a big decision. That's a one-way street to black flag a driver. 

"The toothpaste is out of the tube. But I think they were actually quite lenient on him at the end of the race."