George Russell was concerned that Max Verstappen would still come back at him even after finally letting the Mercedes past in the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Russell and Verstappen renewed their rivalry in the late stages of Sunday’s race in Barcelona with an ugly collision at Turn 5.

Untelevised George Russell team radio surfaces after Max Verstappen clash

It came after Verstappen had been instructed to give fourth place to Russell, having taken to the run-off area to maintain his position moments earlier.

Verstappen initially slowed on the approach to Turn 5 to allow Russell to pass him before accelerating and making firm contact with the Mercedes.

Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty for the collision, dropping him from fifth to 10th in the final classification, as well as three penalty points on his superlicence, putting him one away from a race ban.

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After the clash at Turn 5, Verstappen initially remained ahead of Russell before slowing at the long-right hander at Turn 12, which sits just metres before the second DRS detection zone towards the end of the lap at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Verstappen’s decision to move aside at that stage left Russell convinced that the Red Bull was playing DRS tricks with the intention of immediately repassing him on the pit straight.

Russell’s race engineer, Marcus Dudley, is heard telling his driver: “So he will have DRS.

Russell replied: “Yeah, obviously he’s going to re-overtake me. That’s not a lasting advantage.”

In the event, Verstappen did not launch a move on Russell into the first corner of the following lap, momentarily pulling out of his slipstream as the pair approached Turn 1 before tucking back in behind the Mercedes.

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Russell’s concerns emerge after untelevised team radio footage from the Spanish Grand Prix revealed the part Verstappen himself played in his own downfall in Barcelona.

Having kept the lead McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris honest throughout, Verstappen’s race took a turn for the worse after the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 55 for Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes.

Verstappen was heard calling for “fresh” tyres to be fitted over team radio, claiming the benefit of new rubber would be decisive when the race resumed.

He said: “Do we have another set of tyres? It will make a difference. Fresh tyres.”

However, having used new sets of softs and mediums earlier in the race, the only fresh tyres Verstappen had at that stage was a set of hard tyres.

The hard tyre proved particularly troublesome in Barcelona with every team struggling to make them work from the start of the weekend.

Verstappen was the only driver to use the hard compound over the course of the entire 66-lap race, with every other car interchanging between the soft and medium tyres.

The switch to hard tyres proved fatal to Verstappen’s hopes of challenging for a surprise victory, with the Red Bull driver looking behind rather than ahead at the restart as he came under attack from Charles Leclerc and Russell.

In a statement on Monday, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner defended the team’s strategy choices team, insisting the switch to hard tyres was “the best decision at the time” according to the information available.

He said: “Spain closes out the triple header and we leave Barcelona frustrated that we didn’t take more from the race.

“As a team we attacked on the three stop which was the better strategy and it was only the safety car which had us over.

“We would never have been as close to Lando [Norris] if it wasn’t for the three stopper.

“The safety car came out at the worst possible time for our strategy, we had the choice to stay out on older tyres or take the gamble with a new set of hard tyres.

“Hindsight is always 20/20, but we made the best decision at the time with the information we had.

“The result that followed was frustrating as it was looking to be an easy podium for Max and good Championship points.”

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