Autosport Plus

Why complaints about Verstappen's punishment are wrong

The implication that attending a Formula E race is a 'punishment' for a misbehaving Formula 1 driver prompted plenty of derision, but there was logic and value to Max Verstappen's day with the Marrakech stewards

Last weekend, the FIA sent Red Bull Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen to ABB FIA Formula E's Marrakech E-Prix. There he would serve one of the two days of public service he was given for shoving Esteban Ocon after the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix.

So misbehave in F1, and among the grimmest sanctions a driver can face is to be forced to attend an FE event. Well, that's at least what the howling Twitter mob decided was the case.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.