Red Bull have a plan in place for if Max Verstappen receives a one-race ban later in the season, with a Daniel Ricciardo verdict issued.

Verstappen picked up a 10-second penalty at the Spanish Grand Prix for appearing to intentionally crash into the Mercedes of George Russell, with the severity of the incident also leading race stewards to slam Verstappen with three penalty points on his super licence.

That took Verstappen up to 11 penalty points in the last 12 months, with 12 in a 12-month period being enough for a standard one-race ban.

A ban at this stage of the season could be fatal for Verstappen’s championship chances, particularly as he is already sat 49 points behind leader Oscar Piastri.

However, Red Bull have a plan in place to replace the Dutchman, as to avoid too much disruption to their hopes in the constructors’ championship.

GPFans understands that Liam Lawson or Isack Hadjar would step up into the main team, while Red Bull junior driver Ayumu Iwasa would replace either at Racing Bulls to fill the void at the sister team.

Lawson to make Red Bull return?

A decision to promote Lawson up into the seat for one race would make the most sense, with the New Zealander already having experience in the RB21, but it would also make for a stunning turnaround, with the team having axed him just two races into the 2025 season.