Max Verstappen regrets move on George Russell in F1 Spanish GP which earned him time penalty, as he cites frustration as the key factor.
Red Bull’s Verstappen agreed to misjudgement in the move against Mercedes’ Russell towards the end of F1 Spanish GP on Sunday after the grand prix. However, he had no regrets on what he did. But with the night gone, the Dutchman has backtracked on his stance of regret.
In a post on Instagram, Verstappen admits of frustration of the hard tyre choice and certain moves after the safety car re-start, which resulted in a move against Russell. It is some form of admission that it was kind of road rage reaction. He was handed a 10s time penalty and three penalty points.
His total now stands at 11 points and one more will result in a race ban. He has until June 30 to drive without getting heavy penalty, which means the races in Canada and Austria will be important. Even though he gets through this month, he will still be close to the ban mark.
Verstappen agrees that the move shouldn’t have happened, but he hasn’t directly apologised to Russell for the same – at least not publicly yet. The Dutchman was a hot topic on social media, as many pointed out no change from the four-time champion since his arrival in F1.
“We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, till the safety car came out,” wrote Verstappen. “Our tyre choice to the end and some moves after the safety car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened.
“I always give everything out there for the team and emotions can run high. You win some together, you lose some together. See you in Montreal,” summed up Verstappen, who dropped further behind Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the 2025 F1 drivers’ title fight.
UPDATE: Moments after the statement from Verstappen, team boss Christian Horner penned his view on the grand prix as a whole, noting that the Dutchman apologised his team in the debrief for his collision with Russell.
“Spain closes out the triple header and we leave Barcelona frustrated that we didn’t take more from the race,” he wrote. “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 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. Max apologised in the debrief for his incident with Russell.
“The SC also hurt Yuki’s race, he would’ve been very close if not in the points otherwise if you look at the trajectory he was on. But that’s racing. It can turn in a split second. It is one of the reasons we are all so captivated and in love with this sport. It was a tough weekend, but we will busy working hard over the next weeks to make some set-up improvements to the car and come back strong in Montreal.”
Here’s what Mercedes and Red Bull clan said on Spanish GP
Here’s how F1 Spanish GP panned out
