Max Verstappen would deserve race ban if it happens - George Russell

George Russell believes a race ban for Max Verstappen would be deserved following thier controversial clash in Spain. 

Verstappen was handed three penalty points by F1 stewards for ramming into Russell after a late restart, the Red Bull driver feeling aggrieved after Russell forced him wide at Turn 1 two laps prior.

This moved Verstappen to 11 penalty points, one away from the 12 which triggers an automatic race ban with his next set not due off until June 30th.

Addressing the situation, Russell felt a ban would "not be unjust" after the latest incident involving him and Verstappen, which included a war of words in Abu Dhabi in 2024 following a penalty for the Dutchman in Qatar.

"If he gets to 12 points, [a ban] wouldn’t be unjust," Russell told media in Montreal. 

"At the end of the day, that’s why the penalty points are there. If you keep driving recklessly, you will accumulate points and get punished with a race ban. 

"You’ve got it in your own hands, and it doesn’t go without risk.

Heading into the weekend in Canada, Verstappen must navigate this weekend and Austria next time out penalty-free to avoid a ban, becoming the first reigning world champion to be suspended from a grand prix. 

Russell felt that the rest of the field would "have to be smart" and use the situation to their benefit.

"We have to be smart and use it to our advantage," he added.

"I'm going to continue racing exactly the same because at the end of the day, that's what I did last week, and I benefited from it.

"As we said, if you do keep driving like that, you'll accumulate your points and you'll get punished. Ultimately, he got punished for it, so from my side, kind of long may it continue and for a neutral, it spices things up a little bit."