19/10/2018
NEWS STORY
Having accrued 8 penalty points on his superlicence, Max Verstappen is more qualified than most to pass comment on the controversial system.
Once a driver has accrued 12 points over a 12 month period he faces an automatic one-race suspension - though in the Red Bull driver's case, providing he has a trouble-free weekend, he will revert to 7 after this weekend's Grand Prix is over.
The system was introduced in the wake of Romain Grosjean's crash at Spa in 2012, the Frenchman subsequently being handed a one-race ban not only for said incident but a number of others that preceded it.
Verstappen, who was handed a 5s time penalty after cutting the track in Japan, is no fan of the penalty points system, insisting that its compromises the racing.
"If they think it happens too much, then you just go and suspend him for a race, right?" he told reporters ahead of this weekend's United States Grand Prix.
"You don't need these stupid penalty points for that, do you?" he added. "If you commit a very minor offence every time, it can eventually total up to twelve points. I don't think it's right."
Asked what he would do with the system, he snapped: "Throw it in the bin…
"I don't think there have been many drivers in the history of Formula 1 who have deserved a race suspension at some point," continued the youngster. "If you cause a huge start crash, then that's a different story, but if you get so many points because of all of these smaller things, I find it scandalous."