Max Verstappen makes his feelings clear on getting rare F1 punishment only handed out once in last 12 years

Max Verstappen has made his feelings clear on potentially receiving a ban from Formula 1.

Verstappen received two penalty points on his FIA Super Licence at the Spanish Grand Prix after he crashed into Mercedes driver George Russell.

The penalty took his number of points over a 12-month period to 11, with 12 incurring a one-race ban.

Such a punishment has only been handed out once in the history of F1, with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen missing the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last season after he hit the 12-point threshold.

Two of Verstappen's points expire on June 30, following the Austrian Grand Prix, but the remainder of his points will stay on his licence until the Mexican Grand Prix - in 11 races' time.

The Dutchman was asked about the prospect of a race ban ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Verstappen has tasted victory at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in each of the last three occasions the race has been held, but talk heading into this weekend has unsurprisingly surrounded a different matter.

The four-time world champion stated: "If you look at it, you know, in general, missing a race is not ideal. But it's not the end of the world."

When pressed by another reporter on how long he would need to stay out of the FIA stewards room before Mexico, Verstappen replied: "Do not look at the Excel sheet, then. It's easier. I'm not very good anyway with Excel, so it's better not to look at it than open it!"

The Dutchman has long considered taking up another motorsport discipline after he decides to leave F1, having stated in February that he wanted to race in the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours with Fernando Alonso.

In May, he entered a GT3 sports car test under the pseudonym of Franz Hermann at the Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit - and promptly broke the track's lap record.

Verstappen and partner Kelly Piquet also had their first daughter, Lily, back in April - so a race ban, particularly if he is not in the Drivers' Championship battle, may be, as he puts it, 'not the end of the world'.