Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko has a bone to pick with Ralf Schumacher “next time I see him” after his wild suggestion on the Max Verstappen and George Russell crash at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Verstappen and Russell banged wheels in the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix as it appeared Verstappen was going to let Russell through under Red Bull instruction after initial Turn 1 contact, with Schumacher sensationally suggesting after the race that Verstappen was potentially trying to cost himself points and activate a release clause in his Red Bull contract.

Max Verstappen: F1 title hopes dashed in Spain?

While the stewards announced after the race that they would not have ordered Verstappen to give P4 to Russell – Verstappen having taken to the run-off at the opening turn and returned to the track ahead of the Mercedes driver who looked to pass down the inside – they did take a very dim view of the contact at Turn 5.

Frustration had built and built for Verstappen, who was already angered as the only driver on hard tyres at the race restart after a Safety Car period, with a whack from Leclerc down the straight and T1 overtake, Russell’s hit and then the call from race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to concede P4 to Russell, only further irking the reigning-four-time World Champion.

Verstappen slowed on the approach to Turn 5, only to get back on the throttle and hit Russell who had gone around the outside. Neither driver suffered damage, but Verstappen received a 10-second penalty which dropped him to P10 in the final classification, plus three penalty points for his FIA Super Licence.

Not only does this leave him 49 points behind Spanish GP winner and Drivers’ Championship leader Oscar Piastri, but Verstappen is now also just one penalty point away from a race ban, as his pursuit of a fifth straight World Championship reaches a critical stage.

Yet, Schumacher – six times a grand prix winner – wildly suggested that the incident could be part of a Verstappen masterplan to activate the release clause in his Red Bull contract, a clause which has been the subject of much speculation and debate with Mercedes and Aston Martin name-dropped as potential future destinations for the Dutchman.

It is safe to say that Marko – Red Bull’s senior advisor and driver programme boss – has not taken kindly at all to Schumacher’s theory, and vows to make his feelings clear when he next sees the F1 driver turned pundit.

Swatting away Schumacher’s theory as “rubbish”, Marko, in conversation with OE24, added: “But Max could settle it in a much more elegant way.

“The next time I see him [Schumacher], I’ll tell him straight up.”

Key stats following the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix

👉 F1 penalty points: Verstappen dangerously close to race ban after Russell clash

👉 F1 points all-time rankings: Where do Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso feature?

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was also less than impressed with what Schumacher said.

“This theory is the biggest nonsense possible,” he told BILD of Schumacher’s suggestion. “I haven’t heard anything so stupid for a long time.

“Max is a racer through and through. He always wants to win and would never act like that.”

Verstappen’s Red Bull contract runs until the end of the 2028 season.

Read next: ‘All hell broke loose’ – Marko breaks his silence on Verstappen’s Spanish GP meltdown