Russell Collision ‘Shouldn’t Have Happened’ Says Verstappen

Max Verstappen has taken to social media to address his controversial collision with George Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix, saying that the incident “was not right” and “shouldn’t have happened.” The four-time world champion received a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, which occurred when he appeared to let Russell overtake on the entry of Turn 5, only to accelerate and drive into the side of the Mercedes.

In his post-race interviews, Verstappen showed no signs of remorse and even responded, “does it matter?” when asked if he had caused the collision intentionally. However, in an Instagram post on Monday morning, the Red Bull driver acknowledged his mistake, attributing it to frustration brought on by the events leading up to the incident.

“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.”

The incident occurred after Verstappen, who was running third, had pitted under a safety car deployed to remove Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes from the gravel trap at Turn 10. Due to his three-stop strategy, Verstappen had already used his allocation of soft and medium tyres, leaving him with only a set of hard tyres to fit during the safety car period. This put him at a disadvantage compared to Charles Leclerc and Russell, who both fitted soft tyres and had a performance advantage when racing resumed.

Leclerc passed Verstappen shortly after the restart, while Russell attempted a move into Turn 1 that resulted in the Mercedes driver sliding into Verstappen and forcing him wide. Red Bull feared that Verstappen might receive a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, prompting his engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, to instruct him to give the position back to Russell. This greatly frustrated Verstappen.

On the following lap, as they approached Turn 5, Verstappen appeared to cede the position to Russell, only to accelerate again before the apex and collide with the Mercedes. The stewards deemed Verstappen entirely at fault for the collision, issuing a 10-second penalty and three penalty points on his superlicence. As a result, Verstappen will be one point away from a race ban for the next two races.

The 10th place finish has also dropped Verstappen 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings.

Later on Monday, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner revealed that Verstappen had apologized to the team after the race. In an Instagram post, Horner explained the team’s strategy and the impact of the safety car, stating, “Max apologised in the debrief for his incident with Russell. The [safety car] also hurt Yuki’s race, he would’ve been very close if not in the points otherwise if you look at the trajectory he was on. But that’s racing. It can turn in a split second.”