Formula 1 are adding a new race for the 2026 season and it looks set to have handed a major title boost to Max Verstappen. It was recently announced that the Madrid Grand Prix will be added to the calendar for next season, replacing the Emilia Romagna (Imola) GP.

The stewards took a dim view of the contact, hitting Verstappen with a 10-second penalty and three penalty points. This dropped him from fourth to 10th in the classification and brought him to within one penalty point of an automatic one-race suspension, which would have a disastrous impact on his title hopes.