The reigning world champion was initially handed a 10-second time penalty for a clash with the Mercedes driver at Turn 5 in the closing stages at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the FIA further sanctioning Verstappen with three penalty points on his super licence.
That brings his total to 11 penalty points within the last 12 months, just one short of the 12-point threshold that triggers an automatic race ban.
While two points are set to expire at the end of June, Verstappen remains at risk of suspension through to the end of October.
The incident followed a late Safety Car triggered by the retirement of Russell’s teammate, Kimi Antonelli.
Several drivers took the opportunity to switch to fresh tyres, but Verstappen only had a used set of hard compounds available, leaving him vulnerable against rivals on softs.
At the restart, Charles Leclerc overtook Verstappen, who then had a coming together with Russell into Turn 1. The British driver made contact while attempting a pass, pushing Verstappen off-track as he retained position.
Red Bull instructed Verstappen to relinquish the position, prompting a furious radio response by the Dutchman.
As he slowed into Turn 5 to let Russell through, Verstappen appeared to steer into the Mercedes, an incident that led 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg to call for a black flag during Sky Sports’ F1 commentary.
The stewards deemed Verstappen responsible, stating in their post-race verdict:
“The driver of Car 1 was clearly unhappy with his team’s request to give the position back,” read the verdict.
“At the approach to Turn 5, Car 1 significantly reduced its speed thereby appearing to allow Car 63 to overtake.
“However, after Car 63 got ahead of Car 1 at the entry of Turn 5, Car 1 suddenly accelerated and collided with Car 63. The collision was undoubtedly caused by the actions of Car 1.”
Adding to the controversy, the stewards confirmed Verstappen would not have been penalised for the earlier Turn 1 incident had he simply held position.
George Russell said he felt the move unnecessary, adding he didn’t know what Verstappen was thinking.
“It felt very deliberate to be honest,” Russell said post-race.
“It’s something that I’ve seen numerous times in sim racing, but never have I seen it in a Formula 1 race. So that was something new.
“It’s a bit of a shame because Max is really one of the best drivers in the world, but manoeuvres like that are just totally unnecessary and sort of lets him down.”
“I don’t know what he was thinking. In the end, I’m not going to lose sleep over it because I ultimately benefited from those antics.”
Verstappen meanwhile refuted Russell’s comments, saying he would “bring the tissues” when told of Russell’s view of the incident.
“He has his view. I have my view” Verstappen said. “It’s better to just focus on the race, which I think was quite okay up until the Safety Car.”
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