F1 world in meltdown as Max Verstappen loses mind at Spanish Grand Prix

News.com.au

3 days ago

Formula 1 has gone into meltdown after Max Verstappen escaped with just a 10-second penalty for ramming into bitter rival George Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix.
Sunday night's race exploded on Lap 63 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya when Verstappen steered his Red Bull into Russell's Mercedes as they battled for fourth position.
Out in front, Aussie Oscar Piastri showed his class to win for the fifth time this season in yet another 1-2 finish for McLaren.
Teammate Lando Norris was second, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took the third step on the podium.
However, it was the fireworks between Russell and Verstappen that has got the Formula 1 world in a spin.
The reigning world champion had been seething in the laps leading up to his incident with Russell after his team's gamble to finish the race on hard tyres blew up in their face.
The four-time world champion raged on team radio: 'Why the f*** have we (gone with this strategy)? What is this tyre?
'Why are we on a hard?'
Verstappen was a sitting duck for Leclerc after racing restarted with five laps left following a safety car.
The 27-year-old then went off the track as he tried to hold off Russell.
The four-time world champion was then advised by his team to give Russell the place back —another thing that appeared to incense the 27-year-old, who believed he was in the right to hold his position.
It was a spectacular blunder by the team with FIA stewards confirming after the race they would not have penalised Verstappen if he had held his position.
Verstappen eventually, begrudgingly, let the door open for Russell to overtake him around the outside of a turn — only to then dart into the side of Russell's Mercedes W16 as the British driver turned in.
Russell was heard saying on team radio: 'What the f***'.
F1 commentators around the globe were unanimous in criticising Verstappen for the bizarre move.
Former world champion Nico Rosberg during the race led criticism of Verstappen, saying on Sky Sports the Dutch driver should have been black-flagged and disqualified.
'It looked like a very intentional retaliation,' Rosberg said.
'Wait for the opponent, go ramming into him, just like you felt the other guy rammed into you at Turn 1.
'That's something which is extremely unacceptable and I think the rules would be a black flag. If you wait for your opponent to bang into him, that's a black flag.'
Sky Sports F1 analyst Anthony Davidson also said Verstappen's move appeared to be intentional.
'I don't understand why Max slows down after Turn 4,' he said.
'Then, suddenly decides, 'No I'm not going to let him through'.
'It's almost like he decides, 'No, I'm not going to let him by at all'. He carries such excessive speed into the corner and he's not out of control when doing this and dive-bombs into the corner and hits the Mercedes hard.
'George is immediately on the radio to say 'what on Earth was that?'
'I think it's intentional. And I don't like to see that.'
Despite the serious incident, FIA stewards were quick to hand down a 10-second time penalty, which dropped Verstappen from fifth to 10th.
Verstappen after the race did not deny that his move on Russell — with whom he was involved in a war of words last season — was deliberate.
'Does it matter?' he said.
'I prefer to speak about the race than just one single moment.'
Asked by Sky whether his reputation being tarnished by the collisions and penalty, he said: 'Is it? Well that's your opinion. We will leave it there.'
Russell said Verstappen's move reminded him of video games.
'I was as surprised as you guys were,' he told reporters. 'I've seen these manoeuvres before on simulator games and in go-karting, but never in F1.
'Ultimately, we came home in P4 and he came home in P10. I don't know what was going through his mind. It felt deliberate in the moment so, yeah, it was a bit surprising.
'It is down to the stewards to decide if its deliberate or not. Max is such an amazing driver and so many people look up to him. It's a shame that something like that continues to occur. It seems totally unnecessary and it never seems to benefit himself.'
When asked for his version of events, Russell said bluntly: 'I just got crashed into'.
Russell told the Formula 1 broadcast he would not seek to have a conversation with Verstappen about the incident.
Russell famously labelled Verstappen a 'bully' at the end of the 2024 F1 series, claiming Verstappen threatened to purposefully go out of his way to crash into him and 'put my f***ing head into the wall'.
Those comments have not been forgotten.
Matt Hobkinson wrote on Monday: 'George Russell was right. Max Verstappen is a bully.
'It blows my mind that he does things like that today. I get that he's frustrated from the earlier contact, which was George's fault. Then throw in Red Bull's mad decision to give him hard tyres.
'But what on earth he is doing making contact with George like that I simply do not know.
There is zero place for that kind of thing in F1.
'Blaming it on red mist is one thing but Max now needs to apologise unreservedly and immediately. No excuses.'
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who has previously attempted to recruit Verstappen, said it was 'just incomprehensible'.
Verstappen has been left one point away from a racing ban.
FIA stewards have given the Red Bull driver two penalty points on his Super License which takes him up to 11 points. Drivers receive a racing ban if they collect 12 points over a 12-month period.
The next time the four-time world champion will see any of his penalty points expire will be on June 30.
That means Verstappen will need to be on his best behaviour at both the Canada Grand Prix on June 15 and then Red Bull's home race at the Austrian Grand Prix on June 29.
Picking up another penalty point in Montreal would mean a ban for Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring, while a point in the second race would mean he is banned from the British Grand Prix on July 6.
Verstappen will become the first-ever reigning world champion to be hit by a ban if he picks up another point in either of those races.