Croft is onto Verstappen's 'clever' trick that might've saved him from harsher penalty

Following an incident going into Turn 1 where Verstappen was dispatched to the run off on the outside by Russell, the Dutchman was instructed by Red Bull Racing to give the position back to the Briton.

It was in this moment that Verstappen slowed down coming out of Turn 4, as if to let Russell by, only to accelerate after the Brit had overtaken him. On the entry into Turn 5, Verstappen seemed to replicated the incident he'd had with Russell at Turn 1.

Speaking on The F1 Show by Sky Sports, David Croft explained the critical difference between the Spanish Grand Prix incident, and the one that took place between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, that might have allowed Verstappen to 'escape' a harsher penalty.

“The thing about the Sebastian Vettel moment in Baku is that Seb turned into Lewis. He actually adjusted his steering – behind the safety car remember – and banged wheels with Lewis," he explained