George Russell blasts Max Verstappen after controversial finish to Spanish Grand Prix

The British driver finished in 4th place after Verstappen was penalized by the race's officials.
F1 Grand Prix of Spain - Qualifying
F1 Grand Prix of Spain - Qualifying | Kym Illman/GettyImages

Well, if you wanted drama, the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix provided all that and more!

George Russell, a British driver competing for Mercedes, was involved in one of the weekend's biggest stories after his collision with Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Formula1.com's account of events states that Verstappen collided with Russell after initially giving George the OK to pass him on the track.

Verstappen was going to let Russell pass because of an order from the former's crew. Before the collision, Verstappen was actually able to avoid an earlier accident. However, the Red Bull racer used an exit road to do so.

Verstappen's team wanted to avoid a penalty for using the exit road to gain an advantage over Russell after avoiding the initial incident. Apparently, that ticked Verstappen off since he felt his use of the exit road was justified.

Verstappen let his anger get the best of him and crashed into George Russell on purpose while going into a turn.

The Spanish Grand Prix's officials felt Verstappen's actions were so blatant that they penalized him 10 seconds. The 10 second penalty dropped Verstappen from 4th place to 10th in the race's final standings.

If you ask George Russell, nothing else needs to be said

George Russell - Race Car Driver
F1 Grand Prix of Spain | Kym Illman/GettyImages

Naturally, everyone wanted to hear from George Russell after the Spanish Grand Prix ended. While speaking with Formula 1 media, Russell said, "That’s how Max goes racing. As I said, he was in P4, I was in P5 – I ended up P4, he ended up P10."

"Not really sure what he was thinking because he cost himself and his team a lot of points, so no conversation [is] really required,” Russell continued.

Toto Wolff, the team boss for Mercedes, appeared to be perplexed with how things played out. In a different Formula1.com article, Wolff said, "I mean, if it was road rage, which I can’t imagine, because it was too obvious, then it’s not good. But the thing is, I don’t know what he aimed for."

However, Wolff seemed open to hearing Verstappen out. After pondering aloud about Verstappen's motives, Wolff continued by saying, "for me, it’s just incomprehensible. But again, I don’t know exactly what the motivations were, and I don’t want to jump on it. Let’s see what his arguments are."

The 10 second penalty against Verstappen was doled out fairly quickly. As such, it appears the conversation surrounding the incident between him and George Russell is now a matter of public opinion more than anything.