Max Verstappen speaks out after ‘unacceptable’ George Russell incident

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has spoken out following a horror incident during the Spanish Grand Prix.

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has spoken out following his controversial incident with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The race exploded on Lap 63 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya when Verstappen steered his Red Bull into Russell’s Mercedes as they battled for fourth position.

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Verstappen was advised by his team to give Russell the place back when all hell broke loose.

The 27-year-old eventually, begrudgingly, let the door open for Russell to overtake him around the outside of turn five — only to then dart into the side of Russell’s Mercedes W16 as the British driver looked to swoop around the bend.

Russell was heard saying on team radio: “What the f***”.

Verstappen offered up next to nothing when speaking to the media regarding the incident which saw him slugged with a 10-second time penalty.

While he did not deny that his move — with whom he was involved in a war of words last season — was deliberate, he refused to dive any deeper … until Monday when he took to Instagram.

“We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, till the safety car came out,” Verstappen wrote.

“Our tyre choice to the end and some moves after the safety car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened.

“I always give everything out there for the team and emotions can run high. You win some together, you lose some together.

“See you in Montreal.”

Max Verstappen lost his damn mind. Photo: F1 and YouTube.

While many of Verstappen’s loyal followers were quick to forgive the reigning world champ over the act, many were left calling for him to be hit with a race ban.

Former world champion Nico Rosberg labelled the moment from Verstappen “completely unacceptable” and believed the Red Bull driver should have been shown a black flag and disqualified.

“It looked like a very intentional retaliation,” Rosberg said on Sky Sports.

“Wait for the opponent, go ramming into him, just like you felt the other guy rammed into you at Turn 1.

“That’s something which is extremely unacceptable and I think the rules would be a black flag. If you wait for your opponent to bang into him, that’s a black flag.”

Sky Sports F1 analyst Anthony Davidson also said Verstappen’s move appeared to be intentional.

“I don’t understand why Max slows down after Turn 4,” he said.

“Then, suddenly decides, ‘No I’m not going to let him through’.

“It’s almost like he decides, ‘No, I’m not going to let him by at all’. He carries such excessive speed into the corner and he’s not out of control when doing this and dive-bombs into the corner and hits the Mercedes hard.

“George is immediately on the radio to say ‘what on Earth was that?’

“I think it’s intentional. And I don’t like to see that.”

While Verstappen avoided being disqualified from the race, he now sits on the brink of a race ban after being handed three penalty points from the FIA.

It takes him up to 11 points. Drivers receive a racing ban if they collect 12 points over a 12-month period.

The next time the four-time world champion will see any of his penalty points expire will be on June 30.

That means Verstappen will need to be on his best behaviour at both the Canada Grand Prix on June 15 and then Red Bull’s home race at the Austrian Grand Prix on June 29.

Picking up another penalty point in Montreal would mean a ban for Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring, while a point in the second race would mean he is banned from the British Grand Prix on July 6.

Verstappen will become the first-ever reigning world champion to be hit by a ban if he picks up another point in either of those races.

Originally published as Max Verstappen speaks out after ‘unacceptable’ George Russell incident