Russell says Verstappen ‘spat dummy out’ with ‘pathetic’ reaction

A furious Verstappen branded Russell a “d***head” during a heated exchange following a coming together on the opening lap of the sprint race in Baku. 

The pair collided as they scrapped over third place, with the contact causing a large hole to the sidepod of Verstappen’s Red Bull. 

Verstappen later referred to Russell as a “Princess”, while the Mercedes driver said the two-time world champion had let himself down. 

Ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, Russell told Sky: “It was all a little bit pathetic. 

“Something you learn as a kid is that if you’re going to give something, you’ve got to be willing to take it as well. 

“He’s had his fair share of giving moves like that and being tough and hard at racing. It’s a little bit poor to see how he sort of spat his dummy out when it was the first time he probably got something back in the same regard. 

“From my side there was nothing really to say. I thought it was good racing, exciting racing. That’s the only thing that happened that weekend, it was pretty boring otherwise! 

“We’re both drivers, we’ve been in the sport a long time now and we have plenty of experience. We’ll have a chat and move on. And I guess we’ll laugh about it one day.” 

Russell had earlier insisted there was no need for ‘clear-the-air’ talks despite receiving no apology from Verstappen. 

Meanwhile, F1 points leader Verstappen defended his reaction to Dutch media. 

“You know, I'm just saying what I think and keep doing that,” he is quoted as saying by De Telegraaf. 

“If people have problems with that, that's their problem. Right?”