Max Verstappen has elaborated on the heated altercation he had with George Russell after the two made contact during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix sprint race. The Dutchman defended his earlier stance by continuing to blame the Briton for the collision.
While speaking to Sky Sports F1 about the incident, Verstappen said, “I thought I was fair in turn two. I gave him enough space. I think he locked up. He tells me ‘I had cold tires’. Well, we all have cold tires, that’s not an excuse. I don’t like it when somebody has that kind of reaction: ‘I didn’t do anything wrong’ and just walks off. It’s what it is”.
Verstappen’s criticism of Russell was far from over as in another interview with CANAL+ he went even further in criticizing the Briton. When the interviewer told Verstappen that Russell felt he was coming to congratulate him for the fight in parc ferme, the Dutchman replied, “If you think like that, you are really stupid”.
Verstappen beats Russell to third in Azerbaijan GP sprint race
The battle with George Russell on lap 1 made little difference to Max Verstappen’s race as he ended up passing the Briton to reclaim third in the Azerbaijan GP. Red Bull has produced an extremely strong car this season and the Dutchman showed its potential by passing Russell with ease.
While Verstappen did get the place back from Russell, he did have significant damage to his car. As a result of this, it is possible that he could not fight Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second place as hard as he would have liked after passing the Briton. Verstappen came in close proximity to Leclerc but not close enough to try a move.
Max Verstappen and George Russell have had contrasting starts to the 2023 season
When it comes to the F1 2023 season, Max Verstappen and George Russell find themselves at opposite ends of the spectrum. On the one hand, Verstappen seems in the form of his life as he has currently scored 75 points and leads the world championship by 13 points from his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
On the other hand, Russell has just scored 23 points. The Briton is not only a whopping 52 points behind championship leader Verstappen but also 17 points behind his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Both Verstappen and Russell will now hope to put their heated altercation with each other behind them and focus on Sunday’s main race. The race will begin at 4:30 PM IST (7:00 AM ET) on Sunday, April 30.
