Max Verstappen moment of madness is coming back to haunt him

Max Verstappen put together a controlled and ultimately comfortable display at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, taking victory under the neon lights of The Strip to keep his slim hopes of a fifth consecutive F1 drivers' title alive.

Having started from second on the grid, the Dutchman navigated Lando Norris' initial aggression deftly. He capitalised on the McLaren driver's subsequent mistake at the first corner, taking a lead he would not relinquish.

With two rounds remaining, he trailed Norris by 42 points, with Oscar Piastri only 12 points clear between them. However, he was still in the fight, having been at risk of being ruled out of contention in Nevada.

But then, rumours of an issue with Norris' car spread through the paddock like wildfire, engulfing McLaren.

The British driver's MCL39 was found to be illegal, as was Piastri's in the sister machine; a slam-dunk exclusion from the results.

The double disqualification for excessive plank wear on the papaya cars was the lifeline Verstappen needed.

All of a sudden, he now finds himself on equal points with the latter and only 24 adrift of the former. And, crucially, within striking distance as the circus heads to Qatar, where 33 points are up for grabs.

The closer Verstappen gets to the championship leader, the better for him, naturally. Of course it is.

But it is also a double-edged sword, for his moment of madness at the Spanish Grand Prix grows ever more consequential, point by point.

The incident

What went down at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is well established. The Red Bull driver has already been broadly and rightly criticised for his actions.

And Verstappen has slowly but surely taken accountability for ramming into the side of George Russell's Mercedes.

"The only point of criticism is obviously Barcelona," he recently said when reflecting on his campaign at large.

"That move itself - and the entire incident - was not good, but that's also because I care a lot. I could have thought, 'this car isn't working anyway, so I let it go'.

"I can't accept - towards myself - stepping out of the car and knowing that I didn't give everything. Then I get angry with myself, so I can't drive at 80 per cent.

"When I get out of the car, I always need to be able to tell myself, 'I did everything I could'."

In the interest of recall, at the late-race safety restart, Verstappen found himself third, behind the McLaren team-mates. But Red Bull's late-race strategy misstep had left him vulnerable to Charles Leclerc and Russell behind.

A mistake from the four-time F1 drivers' champion coming out of the last corner saw the former barge by down the straight, before the latter attempted to push his way past at Turn 1, both making contact.

Verstappen, having taken avoiding action, was told to give the place up to the British driver and fall to fifth. He was fuming — and that is when what happened happened.

"That's why I was so angry in Barcelona — first with what happened on the straight at the restart, then into Turn 1, and then of course when I was told to give the position back. That's when all signs went red," he admitted.

"That was a mistake from my side, and of course, I learn from it."

He added: "Those moments won't happen again next year, even if we're in a similar situation with the car. These are the small things you learn from..."

Lesson learned. Great. But the lesson might not end there, after all. There is now the distinct and very real possibility that Verstappen finds himself on the receiving end of the consequences of his actions — and to the fullest extent.

The repercussions — and looming regret

Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty, dropping him from fifth to tenth at the chequered flag.

He was lucky, the punishment could — and perhaps should — have been more severe, but it cost him nine points nevertheless.

Had it not been for the red mist descending in the way that it did, the 28-year-old would now only trail Norris by 15 points at this stage of the season.

From that position, victory at each remaining race, including the sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix, would have ensured Verstappen the title on countback, even if the McLaren driver finished second in all three contests. His fate would still be in his hands.

An unlikely scenario, yes, but a convenient one for illustrative purposes — and it underlines the central point.

This sort of thing is very much an inexact science and arguably a fool's errand — I saw someone point out that had it not been for Norris' retirement at Zandvoort and the McLaren double disqualification in Las Vegas, he would have a 48-point advantage over Piastri and that Verstappen would be out of the running at the stage, 63 points behind.

That level of whataboutism rarely stands up to scrutiny. It's not Formula If, at the end of the day.

However, Verstappen's collision with Russell at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya stands apart from other, potentially pivotal, turning points of the campaign.

Take Piastri's error during the Australian Grand Prix, which likely cost him second position and 16 points — when held against the two earned for his eventual ninth-place finish — as a first example. Mistakes happen across a season.

Or Norris' overly ambitious move on his team-mate in Montreal, going for a gap that turned out not to be there. Ultimately, the type of incident that sometimes happens in racing, one got him an effectively-redundant five-second time penalty for and that lost him a guaranteed 10 points.

Or the 26-year-old's retirement from the Dutch Grand Prix, something that was completely out of his control. 18 points down the drain and three more to Verstappen's tally.

All three are things that just happen over the natural course of an F1 season. But what happened in Spain was completely within the 69-time grand prix winner's control. And that is the difference. 

Verstappen could well lose the championship by fewer than nine points. In which case, it will have proved decisive.

So, it begs the question: Is his moment of madness coming back to haunt him?