George Russell accuses Max Verstappen of deliberat...

George Russell has accused Max Verstappen of intentionally crashing into him throughout the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix and claimed the transfer was “completely pointless”.

Drama escalated in Barcelona after the lap 61 security automobile restart, as third-placed Verstappen was instantly put beneath stress from behind following a slide out of the ultimate nook.

Charles Leclerc first overtook him down the start-finish straight however banged wheels with Verstappen within the course of, irking the four-time champion who mentioned the Ferrari driver wanted penalising.

Russell subsequent pressurised Verstappen having gone down the within of Flip 1, however the Purple Bull driver stayed forward after being compelled to make use of the escape street.

Three laps later although, Purple Bull informed Verstappen at hand Russell fourth place and the even angrier Dutchman, who disagreed with the order, slowed down into Flip 5 earlier than dashing up once more and into the Mercedes.

Verstappen finally let Russell overtake however nonetheless acquired a 10s penalty which dropped him from fifth to tenth and the Briton mentioned “it felt very deliberate”.

“It is one thing that I’ve seen quite a few occasions in sim racing and on iRacing. By no means have I seen it in a System 1 race,” Russell, who completed fourth, added.

“In order that was one thing new. It’s kind of of a disgrace. Max is clearly top-of-the-line drivers on the planet, however manoeuvres like which are simply completely pointless and type of lets him down.

“It is a disgrace for all of the younger youngsters wanting up and aspiring to be System 1 drivers. So, as I mentioned, I do not know what he was considering. In the long run I am not going to lose sleep over it as a result of I additionally benefited from these antics.”

Russell believes questions have to be requested if stewards reckon Verstappen actually meant it since you “can not intentionally crash into one other driver”.

“We have put our lives on the road,” he mentioned. “We’re lucky the automobiles are as protected as they’re nowadays. We should not take it without any consideration.

“As I mentioned, it is right down to the stewards to find out if it is deliberate or not. In the event that they do assume it is deliberate, then they should have a tough query.”

Russell was left bewildered by the transfer given the Mercedes driver completed inside a second of third-placed Leclerc – so Verstappen may have simply fought again regardless of the late change to onerous rubber whereas others had been on softs.

“It simply appeared all very unusual and weird and set off,” Russell mentioned. “It does not actually make sense to intentionally crash into someone and danger damaging your individual automobile, danger a penalty.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Purple Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes

Picture by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Photographs by way of Getty Photographs

“He may have come again for combating for podium. Charles actually dropped off on the finish, pushing each tender tyres too onerous.

“Clearly, he was in all probability annoyed being on the onerous tyres. Misplaced out at first, nevertheless it was nonetheless 5 laps to go. I am not going to lose sleep over it.”

It means Verstappen is now 49 factors behind championship chief Oscar Piastri, who received the Spanish GP in a McLaren 1-2 forward of Lando Norris.

Images from Spanish GP – Race