F1 analyst brands Max Verstappen’s contact with George Russell as “intentional”

Sky Sports F1 pundit Anthony Davidson has described Max Verstappen’s collision with George Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix as “intentional,” following their dramatic clash in the closing stages of the race.

The controversial incident occurred when Verstappen slowed on the exit of Turn 4 after Red Bull incorrectly told him to give the position back.

Russell never got fully ahead, and Verstappen maintained the position while carrying excessive speed into Turn 5, resulting in contact with the Mercedes driver.

Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty as a result, with three penalty points.

Verstappen is now just one penalty point away from receiving a one-race ban.

Verstappen was defiant after the race, stating: “In life you shouldn’t regret too many things, you only live once.”

However, on Monday morning, the four-time world champion took to his Instagram account to deliver a more measured response.

Verstappen wrote: “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.”

Davidson, who is Sky Sports F1’s TV analyst, was adamant the move was deliberate.

Analysing the incident with Russell, Davidson said: “On the exit of Turn 4, he clearly slows down and is allowing Russell to overtake but he doesn’t actually overtake him. There’s never a moment where Russell is fully ahead of him. He’s not letting him by.

“He decides ‘no, I’m not going to let him by at all’ carries such excessive speed into the corner and he’s not out of control when doing this and divebombs into the corner, hits the Mercedes hard. It’s almost as if it’s a retaliation for what he thought happened at Turn 1.

“George is very quick on the radio button. Immediately on the radio button, saying ‘what on earth is that’. I don’t like to see that - whether the blood is boiling or not.

“I think it’s intentional. And I don’t like to see that. Everything up until that point, I can’t blame him for but that, 100 per cent, yes.”

Red Bull’s crucial error

Verstappen’s main source of frustration stems from being told to give the place back to Russell.

Verstappen was forced off by Russell at Turn 1, but Red Bull felt they had to give Russell the position to avoid a penalty.

After the race, it transpired that the stewards would have taken no action had Verstappen not given the place back.

Sky Sports pundit Bernie Collins explained that Red Bull’s instruction would have been a collective decision rather than one made by his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase.

“We hear the notification from GP [Gianpiero Lambiase] to say ‘give the position back’ but we don’t know where that comes from,” Collins added.

“We don’t know if Red Bull had a conversation with the FIA about how they view it. There will be a team at Red Bull back in Milton Keynes going through the onboards and making a decision.”