After Max Verstappen’s collision with George Russell in the Spanish Grand Prix, the Dutch driver made a shocking remark.
In a battle for fourth with just three laps to go, Verstappen collided with Mercedes driver Russell at Turn 5.
The Red Bull driver was instructed to let Russell through following a cut chicane at Turn 1, but instead, contact was made with the Mercedes car, and Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty.
Such a mistake was costly for the four-time world champion as an earlier safety car had bunched the cars back up, which resulted in him dropping from fifth to 10th post-race.
This also adds three penalty points to his super licence, leaving Verstappen just one away from an automatic race ban.
In the heat of the moment, Verstappen was unapologetic, refusing to accept the blame for the coming together, instead choosing to taunt Russell by sarcastically offering him a tissue after he heard of the Mercedes driver’s criticism.
But less than 24 hours later, Verstappen took to social media with a fresh perspective on the incident.
Max Verstappen apologises for collision with George Russell
On his Instagram, Verstappen said: “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.”
The 10th-place finish leaves Verstappen 49 points behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who leads the Championship.
Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda’s second consecutive 13th-place finish solidified a disappointing week.
After the intense European triple-header, the Dutch driver will have two weeks to prepare for the Canadian Grand Prix, in an attempt not to lose any more ground in the Championship race.
Like Verstappen, Russell will also have to move on, but he was far from pleased with the incident.
Russell criticised ‘deliberate’ Verstappen
When speaking about the incident with Sky Sports, Russell said: “I was as surprised as you guys were. I’ve seen those sort of manoeuvres before on simulator games and go-karting but never in F1.
“Ultimately we came home in P4 and he came home in P10. I don’t really know what was going through his mind.”
With the nature of Verstappen’s move, the Mercedes driver didn’t see it as fair driving.
“It felt deliberate in the moment, so it felt surprising,” Russell said.
Russell wasn’t the only one to criticise Verstappen, with 2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg slamming the Dutch driver whilst commentating for Sky Sports.
He said: “Wow, that’s bad, bad, bad, that’s seriously bad.
“He just rammed him full on, he needs to be black flagged, there’s no other way.”
Whether it’s Lewis Hamilton in 2021 or George Russell now, Verstappen seems to clash with The Silver Arrows drivers.
So it’s heated moments like this which make Guenther Steiner’s belief that Verstappen could join Mercedes extra surprising.
But for Verstappen, he won’t be thinking about anything like that and will just be focused on trying to win the Canadian Grand Prix.
The post Max Verstappen makes surprise statement after collision with Mercedes' George Russel at Spanish Grand Prix appeared first on HITC.
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