Helmut Marko has warned Max Verstappen that he will need to be ‘more careful’ during the 2025 season after the reigning world champion picked up his seventh and eighth penalty points during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Under new race director Rui Marques, race control has been clamping down on drivers overstepping the mark during wheel-to-wheel combat. This was something that was requested by many of F1’s biggest stars in meetings with the FIA over the season, although the severity with which punishments have been dished out has come as a shock.
At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the stewards pulled no punches. Verstappen picked up a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for tagging Oscar Piastri into a spin at Turn One on the opening lap, and the McLaren man later suffered the same fate when he made contact with Franco Colapinto.
Piastri and Verstappen weren’t the only ones to get severe penalties for avoidable contact either. Valtteri Bottas was hit with 10 seconds and then a five-place grid penalty for incidents with Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen, while Liam Lawson also collected a 10-second penalty.
Verstappen’s two penalty point haul takes him to a cumulative eight for the 12-month period. Under the FIA regulations, if a driver reaches 12 penalty points then they are banned for the following race.
This was a fate met by Magnussen earlier in the year. He picked up two penalty points during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, meaning Oliver Bearman was drafted in to replace him for Haas’ trip to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Explaining the Dutchman’s predicament, Marko told Sky Germany: “He’s picked up two points again. He’s now on eight, so we need to start being careful.” The Austrian also raised concerns about the consistency of the stewarding.
“With certain stewards, this penalty is often harsher,” he continued. “But that’s a problem everyone has, and it’s been raised several times before — that more consistency here would be better and would improve the sport as well.”
A race ban would be nothing short of disastrous for Verstappen if he is to defend his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship title. Red Bull head into the 2025 campaign with work to do after watching McLaren and then Ferrari cruise past them in the battle for the Constructors’ Championship.
