Max Verstappen blames frustration for a ‘move that was not right’ after colliding with Russell

Max Verstappen commented Monday that frustration caused a move that was not right and shouldn t have happened a day after he initially seemed unrepentant over his collision with George Russell at Formula s Spanish Grand Prix Verstappen had been petitioned by his Red Bull company to give up a place to Russell following an earlier episode between the two drivers when he hit Russell s Mercedes The race stewards ruled Verstappen had suddenly accelerated before the collision and Russell announced it felt very deliberate The stewards gave Verstappen a -second penalty which dropped him from fifth to th and left him points off standings leader Oscar Piastri who won Sunday s race We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona till the safety car came out Our tire choice to the end and specific moves after the safety car restart fueled my frustration leading to a move that was not right and shouldn t have happened Verstappen wrote on Instagram I invariably give everything out there for the association and emotions can run high You win certain together you lose chosen together See you at the next race in Montreal Initially in the aftermath of Sunday s race Verstappen had commented that next time I will bring a tissue responding to Russell claiming he set a poor example for young drivers A series of setbacks The collision followed a series of setbacks for Verstappen who had been in third and pressuring the two McLaren drivers in front before the safety car came out Red Bull decided to bring Verstappen into the pits for fresh tires even though the only ones he had left were slower hard-compound tires a type that no other driver used At the restart Verstappen lost grip and was overtaken by Charles Leclerc whose Ferrari made contact with Verstappen s Red Bull Neither driver was ruled at fault for that Verstappen then went off the track while defending against Russell and Red Bull demanded Verstappen to give up the place to Russell apparently because the group expected Verstappen would be given a penalty The stewards later ruled they wouldn t have taken action against the Dutch driver for that happening Risking a suspension Verstappen demands to be careful in the next two races because the penalty for the collision with Russell also brought him penalty points on his licence taking him to in the last months Drivers get a one-race suspension if they hit points in a year Two of those points expire at the end of the month but until then Verstappen requirements to get through the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix without any further penalty points AP auto racing https apnews com hub auto-racing Source