Max Verstappen is unfazed by a potential Formula 1 race ban, insisting it would not be “the end of the world”, Afrosport reports.
The four-time F1 world champion is one point away from triggering a suspension after he was handed three penalty points for appearing to deliberately drive into the Mercedes of George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.
He was also handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident which dropped him from fifth to 10th in the results, leaving him 49 points adrift of championship leader Oscar Piastri.
When asked ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix if he was thinking about the potential ban, the Dutch man said: “It’s there right, there’s nothing you can do about it.
“We just focus ahead and try to do the best we can every single time. It’s not changing my approach and I cannot speak for others.
“If you look at it in general, missing a race is not ideal, but it’s not the end of the world.”
He added: “I cannot just back out of everything – I’m just going to race like I always do. I trust myself.
“Is it fair that I’m on 11 points? I don’t know. But at the same time, life is not fair, you know, so if you look at it like that, I don’t worry about it.
“I just come here to race and I will always race hard, race how I think I should race. And then we go on to the next race.”
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Verstappen must avoid picking up any further penalties in Canada and Austria if he is to avoid becoming only the second driver in history to receive a race ban after Romain Grosjean in 2012.
