- Max Verstappen and George Russell collided late on in Sunday’s Spanish GP
- Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty and finished in 10th place
- Russell, who finished in fourth spot, later said of the collision: ‘It felt deliberate’
Fans couldn’t help but see the funny side as Max Verstappen was named the Driver of the Day before a 10-second penalty which saw the Red Bull man finish 10th in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen was handed the penalty after colliding with George Russell in the dramatic final laps of the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday as tensions between the two were reignited.
The incident with three laps of the race remaining as Verstappen’s team instructed him to let Russell through after he had gained an unfair advantage earlier in the race.
The 27-year-old was clearly reluctant, replying ‘no, no, no, no,’ on the radio.
However, he did then appear to comply as he moved off-line on a turn, seemingly offering Russell a route past.
What followed shocked viewers as Verstappen made contact with the side of Russell’s Mercedes as the Brit attempted to pass.
Russell was left stunned, immediately yelling ‘What the f***?’ over team radio – a reaction that drew added attention given his previous criticism of FIA attempts to clamp down on swearing during live broadcasts.
Race stewards immediately launched an investigation and, after reviewing the footage, handed Verstappen a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.
Despite this Verstappen was named the Salesforce Driver of the Day, much to the amusement of fans on social media.
‘This has to be the funniest Driver of the Day ever,’ wrote one with the graphic below.
Fans vote for the award and many will have placed their vote before the controversial moment with Russell took place.
After the sanction, the reigning world champion finished 10th, with Oscar Piastri taking the chequered flag for McLaren.
Reacting to the incident in a post-race interview with Sky Sports, Russell said: ‘I was as surprised as you guys probably were.
‘I have seen those kind of manoeuvres before on simulated games and in go-karting but never in Formula One.
‘Ultimately, we came home in P4 and he came home in P10, so I don’t really know what was going through his mind. It felt deliberate in the moment.’
Verstappen then gave a very spiky interview to Sky. The opening question asked whether his move on Russell had been intentional and he replied: ‘Does it matter?’
After the interviewer suggested that it did indeed matter to the fans, Verstappen sarcastically added: ‘OK, that’s great. I prefer to speak about the race than one single moment.’
When it was put to him that his 10th-place finish had damaged his hopes of retaining his crown as world champion, he hit back: ‘If there are any. I think we are way too slow anyway to fight for the title. I think that was clear again today.’ Sunday’s result left Verstappen 49 points behind leader Piastri in the drivers’ standings.
The interview ended with the reporter again probing Verstappen about the collision with Russell. It was put to Verstappen: ‘We all see what an incredible driver you are and it is horrible to see that shine taken off.’
He shrugged his shoulders and replied: ‘Is it? Yeah, OK, that’s your opinion. We’ll leave it there.’
