I Was Frustrated – Verstappen Explains Clash With Russell At Spanish Grand Prix
Formula One driver Max Verstappen has blamed frustration for his clash with George Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
He was handed a 10-second penalty for deliberately colliding with Russell during the race.
Consequently, the penalty affected his position as he dropped from fifth to 10th.
Russell criticised him after the race, describing his action as totally unnecessary.
He said, “Totally unnecessary and sort of lets him down. I don’t know what he was thinking.
“It doesn’t really make sense to deliberately crash into somebody and risk damaging your own car, risking a penalty.
“In the end, I’m not going to lose sleep over it because I ultimately benefited from those antics.”
However, Verstappen took to social media on Monday to describe the action as a misjudgment as a result of frustration.
He wrote, “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.
“I always give everything out there for the team, and emotions can run high. You win some together, you lose some together.”
Similarly, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner shed more light on what transpired on the grid on social media on Monday.
He wrote, “The safety car came out at the worst possible time for our strategy. We had the choice to stay out on older tyres or take the gamble with a new set of hard tyres.
“Hindsight is always 20/20, but we made the best decision at the time with the information we had. The result that followed was frustrating, as it looked to be an easy podium for Max and good championship points.
“Max apologised in the debrief for his incident with Russell. The SC also hurt Yuki [Tsunoda’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. It is one of the reasons we are all so captivated and in love with this sport. It was a tough weekend, but we will be busy working hard over the next few weeks to make some set-up improvements to the car and come back strong in Montreal.”
The penalty left Verstappen 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, who won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers’ Championship titles, and he has won 65 Grands Prix across 11 seasons.
I Was Frustrated – Verstappen Explains Clash With Russell At Spanish Grand Prix is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
