Max Verstappen’s reaction to George Russell proved how angry he was at the Briton’s error. The two drivers made contact in the first lap of the 2023 Azerbaijan GP sprint race. The impact caused a part of Verstappen’s side pod to break, slowing the Dutchman down lap after lap.
The 2x world champion confronted the Mercedes driver after the race, calling Russell a ‘di*khead’ for his misjudged move. However, F1 present Will Buxton claims Russell was merely doing what the Red Bull driver has done for a long time.
Will Buxton refutes Max Verstappen’s statements
After the race, George Russell tried to settle the matter with Max Verstappen. He told the Dutchman that his tires were cold and lacked grip, hence inflicting damage to Verstappen’s car.
However, the 2x world champion claimed everyone was facing issues with a lack of grip. Hence, Russell should now have made the move. This made F1 TV presenter Will Buxton respond, concluding the Red Bull driver’s aggressive style of driving.
Will Buxton hit the nail on the head with this one 😭‼️ pic.twitter.com/qSR8gRNRjh
— Stefan⁴⁴ (@HPP7Strat2) April 29, 2023
Buxton responded in the F1 post-race show, “Max Verstappen is saying a driver is taking some unnecessary risks. While Max has made a career out of putting in gutsy moves, getting his elbows out, getting down and dirty, and running wheel to wheel with people.”
He continued, “He’s fought drivers hard his entire career but doesn’t like being raced hard. Particularly when he fighting for a world championship and that showed today.”
Verstappen rubbished George Russell’s excuses
According to George Russell, it was Max Verstappen’s fault to push hard while he was racing on the outside line. Russell claims the Dutchman was aware of the danger of pushing too hard. However, the Red Bull driver claims these were merely excuses by the Briton.
He said, in his post-race interview, “He’s very good at explaining and creating excuses. Everyone had cold tires, and I think I had every right to be on the outside.”
Max Verstappen did not hold back on his thoughts regarding Russell’s Lap 1 moves 😬#AzerbaijanGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/Fc0W9fTUMU
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 29, 2023
Verstappen added, “I also didn’t risk too much. I gave him enough space because we were going side by side. But you need two guys to work together to make the corner. He didn’t.”
Russell believes Verstappen’s reaction after the race was not warranted. The Briton claims the driver managed to secure P3, and had he yielded his position earlier, he could have overtaken the Briton in the coming laps. However, he clarified that he will not stop fighting for potions against Verstappen just because the latter has a better standing in the championship.
