Max Verstappen admitted and publicly apologised for his collision with George Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix, calling the incident “not right and should not have happened.”
The four-time Formula 1 Champion got criticised after accelerating his car and steering into Russell's Mercedes car during Turn 5 at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Posting on his Instagram, Verstappen reflected on the incident from the past weekend.
“We had an exciting strategy and a good race in Barcelona till the safety car came out. 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.” He wrote.
“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.”
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However, Verstappen's social media apology marked a dramatic contrast compared to his immediate post-race reaction. During an interview with Sky Sports, he downplayed the clash.
“Does it matter?” Verstappen said.
“I prefer to speak about the race rather than just one single moment.”
George Russell was then interviewed and said the move was "unnecessary".
“He was in P4, I was P5. I ended P4, he ended up P10.” Russell said to Sky Sport.
“My perspective is that I got crashed into.
“Not sure what he was thinking, because it cost him and the team a lot of points.”
The cost of the collision
The clash with Russell proved costly for Verstappen.
Verstappen was given a 10-second time penalty at turn 5 in the closing stages at the Circuit de Barcelona-catalunya.
This brings him from P4 to P10 at the end, while Russel jumps to P4 from P5.
In addition, the FIA handed Verstappen three penalty points on his super licence, bringing his total to 11 points within the past 12 months.
Verstappen is now just one point away from an automatic race ban.
While two points are set to expire at the end of June, Verstappen is still in high risk of suspension toward the end of October.
A growing feud: Verstappen vs Russell
This is not the first time tensions have flared between Verstappen and Russell.
At the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, tensions escalated after an earlier incident during the Qatar qualifying, where Verstappen was penalised for impeding Russel by driving too slowly during his fast lap.
In a post-race press conference, Verstappen accused Russell of deliberate tactics.
“I have never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. I lost all my respect,” said Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Russell later claimed Verstappen privately made a threatening remark, allegedly telling him he would “put his head against the wall.”
"To question somebody’s integrity while saying comments like that, I find very ironic and I am not going to sit here and accept it,” said Russel in the post-race interview.
With only one position and 26 points separating them in the championship standings, all eyes now turn to the Canadian Grand Prix next weekend.