Max Verstappen has responded to the incident with George Russell in the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix. The two drivers collided when the Brit attempted to overtake the Dutchman, resulting in Verstappen finishing the race in tenth place. Verstappen prefers not to dwell on the incident post-race.
Max Verstappen was within reach of third place during the Spanish Grand Prix, until a crash involving Andrea Kimi Antonelli and the subsequent safety car disrupted his progress. The Dutchman was the only one to opt for hard tyres for the final laps of the race, and was almost immediately overtaken by Charles Leclerc. George Russell also attempted to pass Verstappen shortly after, but the two collided. Verstappen consequently finished the race in tenth place.
“We ran out of soft tyres because we made three pit stops,” Verstappen explains to Sky Sports F1 about the controversial tyre choice for the final phase. “That’s just bad luck. Before that, things were looking good for us, we didn’t have the pace of the McLarens, but we could at least put some pressure on them. They had to drive faster. The safety car came at a bad time, but that’s part of racing.”
“After that, I couldn’t keep up with the cars on soft tyres, and on the straight and in the first corner, I really struggled,” the world champion continues his analysis. “And then they told me I had to give back the position,” the Dutchman seems reluctant to comment on the incident with Russell himself. “The biggest problem at the moment are the racing guidelines. What is allowed and what is not, doesn’t feel really natural. And that’s really frustrating. Sometimes the rules work in your favour, and sometimes they don’t.”
‘Focus on the Race’
The Red Bull driver is subsequently asked several times about the incident with Russell, but Verstappen prefers not to comment. “It’s better to focus on the rest of the race, which was quite good until the safety car.” And does he want to respond to Nico Rosberg’s opinion that Verstappen should have received a black flag for the incident? “That’s his opinion.”
