George Russell reacts to Max Verstappen’s Barcelona clash and near ban, saying his apology was rare, and a suspension justified.
George Russell admitted in Canada that he was surprised by Max Verstappen’s reaction following their collision in Barcelona, speaking to the media ahead of the race weekend.
The Mercedes F1 driver said it was “good” that Verstappen took responsibility for their incident during the Spanish Grand Prix, but added he was “a little surprised” by the Dutchman.
Verstappen is currently one penalty point away from a race suspension.
“His actions cost him, and they benefitted me. So I should probably thank him. But it’s good to see he took responsibility and put out a message the next day, which did surprise me a little.”
Russell remains convinced that the move was at least partially intentional.
“I think he was trying to push me off the track, intimidate me, but I don’t think he meant to hit me on purpose. I just think he misjudged the situation.”
The British driver believes a suspension would be deserved if Verstappen does reach the limit.
“If he gets his 12 points, it wouldn’t be unfair, you know. That’s literally why this regulation exists.”
“The penalty he got in Spain was fair, but if it had taken me out of the race, it should have been judged differently.”
Verstappen’s rivals could look to take advantage of his precarious position heading into this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
“We have to be smart and use it to our advantage. I’m going to keep racing exactly the same as before, because in the end, that’s what I did last week and I benefitted. And like we said, if you keep doing that, you rack up points and you get penalised. In the end, he was penalised.”
“So from my side, I hope it continues for a while, and from a neutral point of view, it spices things up a bit.”
Russell doesn’t believe Verstappen will change his approach, even with a race ban looming.
“It depends on the circumstances, doesn’t it? When you’re fighting for the championship, it’s a bit different. That’s why I don’t think he was trying to hit me on purpose. He was just trying to muscle in and show who’s boss. But he got it wrong. Jos [Verstappen’s father] is the boss. I’m going to keep racing exactly the same way.”
Russell revealed he ran into Verstappen by chance at Nice airport on Sunday, as he was heading to the French Open final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“We crossed paths at the airport a few days ago, Sunday morning, as I was on my way to Roland-Garros.”
“To be honest, I had completely forgotten about Barcelona, because he was there with his baby. We were at the security check. There was just a brief exchange, then he started folding up the stroller to get it through.”
