Max Verstappen enjoyed one of the most chaotic endings to a Spanish Grand Prix that he could have, dropping from third to tenth in the space of six laps.
The reigning champion is now 49 points off the top of the drivers’ championship, after a late clash with Mercedes’ George Russell cost him points. It was actually an earlier mistake by Verstappen that triggered it all in the first place.
After a late Spanish Grand Prix safety car restart, he almost lost control of his Red Bull car on the exit of the final corner. Almost immediately, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc drew alongside him and flew past, making contact on the straight which didn’t please the Dutchman.
Then Russell tried a dive into turn one, which resulted in a position swap request from Red Bull laps later, which angered their driver and caused chaos. Verstappen sent one radio message that cost him dearly and failed to question why he had to give the place back, when he didn’t have to.
In the end, despite receiving a 10-second penalty for then hitting the side of Russell, F1 fans praised what Verstappen said after their squabble, as he admitted fault on social media the day after the race for his part in the incident.
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Helmut Marko claims Charles Leclerc ‘almost drove into’ Max Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix
Originally, Verstappen said one Russell action wasn’t ‘necessary’ and couldn’t see the need to apologise to him after the race. Their clash has left him on 11 penalty points, possibly just one incident from an automatic one-race ban, which would be a massive blow to any small title chances.
Verstappen fans think he was in his ‘villain era’ in Spain, but it had all been triggered by his team’s decision to put him on hard tyres at the end of the race. A snap left him vulnerable, which Leclerc then took advantage of, making contact on the straight somehow.
The matter was deemed a racing incident, as both cars converged on each other slightly, but showed how neither was willing to give an edge. Speaking to Servus TV, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko blamed Leclerc for nearly driving ‘into’ Verstappen.
“Lando Norris was within our reach, Oscar wasn’t,” he said. “But our aim was to split the two of them. On the straight, Charles Leclerc almost drove into Max’s car at more than 300 km/h – and then Russell came along.”
READ MORE: Sky pundit wonders if Max Verstappen received one radio message which caused Spanish Grand Prix chaos
Lando Norris hilariously mocks Max Verstappen incident after the Spanish Grand Prix
Some people could see the funny side to Verstappen’s incidents, which left him visibly annoyed and heading straight out of parc ferme at the conclusion of the race with his helmet on.
He was in no mood to talk about his Russell clash after the race, insisting that he would prefer to talk about other things in an interview with Sky Sports’ Rachel Brookes.
Norris made a hilarious seven-word comment at Verstappen for hitting the side of Russell, saying that he had made similar moves on Mario Kart before.
The problem for the Dutchman is that repeating the same trick would see him sidelined for at least one event. Given that it looks like he’s the only one who can produce results in his car, it would be a disaster for his team.
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