Furious Max Verstappen labels George Russell a 'd-------' in post-race tirade
A furious Max Verstappen labelled Britain’s George Russell “a d-------” after the two collided on the opening lap of Saturday’s sprint race in Azerbaijan, with the double world champion later calling for the new format to be "scrapped" from Formula One altogether.
Despite the collision leaving the Dutchman with a hole in his sidepod, he recovered to finish third behind teammate Sergio Perez, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. But he was seen remonstrating angrily with Russell after the two drivers parked up.
Russell, still wearing his helmet, tried to defend himself, telling Verstappen that he did not hit him on purpose, explaining that he had “no grip” and that he “just locked up”.
But Verstappen was unimpressed. "Mate, we all have no grip [on the opening lap]. We all need to leave a little bit of space."
Russell then told Verstappen to “watch the onboard" as he walked away. Verstappen was picked up by television cameras muttering: "Yeah, sure. Well, expect next time the same. Dickhead."
Stewards deemed the collision a racing incident, despite Verstappen telling his team to “f—----- report it” to them. And Russell later told reporters he could not see what the big fuss was about.
“I’m here to fight, I’m here to win. I’m not just going to wave him by because he is Max Verstappen in a Red Bull,” he said. “There’s not a lot more to say.”
'It is not proper racing'
Verstappen was also withering about the new sprint race format, which is making its debut in Baku.
At six races this season qualifying for the main grand prix will take place on the Friday, with a separate ‘sprint shootout’ followed by a short 'sprint race' for a handful of points on the Saturday.
“It is hectic,” Verstappen complained. “It is not proper racing. It is more like gambling. I will have more success in Las Vegas when I go to the casino. I like racing, I am a pure racer and this is more for the show.
"Of course, it is important to have entertainment but if all the cars are closer you create better entertainment than trying to do it like this. It feels like a football match when one team is winning 3-0 and then suddenly you just reset it to 0-0 and you go again. I find it unnecessary.”
Asked what changes he would make, Verstappen added: “Just scrap the whole thing. It is important to go back to what we had and make sure every team can fight for a win. That is what we have to try and aim for and not to implement this artificial excitement.
“I got bored in [sprint] qualifying to be honest. I like to have one qualifying where you put everything into it. I did that yesterday which I enjoyed and then we had to do it again today and I was like ‘My God. Another qualifying?’ I just don’t enjoy that.”
It was a return to form of sorts for the Dutchman, whose temper erupted on more than one occasion as he duelled so memorably with Lewis Hamilton for the drivers’ championship back in 2021.
Verstappen’s dominance last season - he won a record 15 races - was such that he was not often pushed to breaking point. But with Leclerc taking pole in both qualifying sessions, and Perez taking the maximum eight points in yesterday’s sprint race, Verstappen allowed the red mist to descend following the collision with Russell.
Asked whether he felt he should take any share of the blame for the collision, which occurred on only the second corner of the 17-lap race, Verstappen said sarcastically: “I think I did leave enough space. But it's hard to not hit the Red Bull car, I guess. For them [Mercedes].”
Red Bull team principal said Verstappen would use the incident as fuel to fire him up for today’s race and further into the future. “Max voiced his opinion to George,” Horner said of the spat. “It's probably a good idea he [Russell] left his crash helmet on. When you get damage to your car… I would be surprised if he was happy about that. He's like an elephant, he'll remember that... he'll bank that for a while."
Leclerc will start on pole for today’s main grand prix, with Verstappen, who leads Perez by 12 points in the drivers’ championship, second on the grid. Hamilton starts fifth, with Russell 11th.
