George Russell and Max Verstappen had a heated exchange after the 2023 Azerbaijan Sprint Race. The Mercedes driver and 2x world champion made contact on lap 1 of the race. The contact made serious damage to the RB19’s bodywork, jeopardizing his speed.
The Red Bull driver was furious after finishing P3 in the race. Russell reasoned that his tires were cold and he did not mean to intentionally hit the Dutchman. However, the fuming Red Bull driver was not buying the Briton’s excuses.
Russell claimed Verstappen should have not pushed during his overtake as that cost him the race win. The statement reflected a moment 5 years ago when Lewis Hamilton told Verstappen an invaluable lesson that the Dutchman forgot.
Lewis Hamilton schooled Max Verstappen after an incident with Esteban Ocon in the 2018 Brazil GP
The George Russell incident in Baku reminded fans of Esteban Ocon’s collision with Max Verstappen at the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix. Verstappen was leading the race and Ocon was trying to unlap himself. Neither of the two drivers yielded the position and touched at Lap 1.
Verstappen spun upon impact and lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman was furious and even assaulted the Frenchman after the race. However, Hamilton opted to give some wise words of advice to the raging Red Bull driver.
A Twitter user, ‘QuickStopF1’ uploaded the driver’s exchange in the cooldown room. Verstappen was asked by 3rd place Kimi Raikkonen how he lost the race lead. The Dutchman replied, “I got taken out by Ocon. He tried to unlap himself.” The 7x Champion interrupted the Red Bull driver, “But he is allowed to unlap himself!”
The Red Bull driver refuted back claiming it wasn’t fair for Ocon to crash into him. However, the Briton reminded him, “He had nothing to lose but you had all.” The same words were repeated by Russell after he was asked about the incident.
George Russell claims Max Verstappen should have been cautious
George Russell claims that Max Verstappen should have been careful as he was on the outside. The Briton claims he had no intention of making contact with the Red Bull driver. However, the 2x champion should have been more thoughtful believes Russell.
The Mercedes driver stated, “He has enough experience and knows that if you are going to overtake a guy on the outside. There is a risk that the car on the inside will run wide into you.” Russell admits he lacked grip, but had the right over the corner.
The Briton was also surprised to see Verstappen’s furious rebuttal when the driver tried to talk to him. The Dutchman claimed he made baseless comments and called him a ‘Di*khead’ for attempting the move.
Russell said, “I don’t know why’s he so angry. He still managed to finish P3 in the sprint.” The Briton continued, “If the roles were reversed he would do the same.”
However, Russell echoes his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s words from 2018 claiming Verstappen had more to lose than he did. The Mercedes driver claims the 2x champion could have easily retaken the position with the pace advantage he had.
