The most recent F1 Grand Prix in Barcelona, Spain saw sparks flying for Max Verstappen, after on track incident with George Russell, and this conversation continued during Canadian GP media day.
During the final laps of the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull made the call to let Russell pass, after earlier incident. This caused a bigger issue, when the two collided as Verstappen tried to allow the Brit past. He eventually did into turn 12.
It was later ruled that Verstappen in fact wasn’t required to hand back the position following the turn 1 touch, creating more conversation. Should the Dutchman have not been asked to allow Russell through, the incident wouldn’t have occurred. This has been the cause of Christian Horner’s request to the FIA, to create a clearer picture, of whether drivers need to let another one pass or not in such scenarios.
Verstappen’s Monday statement from Spain
Following the Grand Prix on Sunday evening, Verstappen came out with a statement in regards to this incident, the following day. Taking to social media, Verstappen wrote: “Our tyre choice at the end and some moves after the restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened.”
He emphasised in this F1 Canadian GP media session that admitting to his mistake was not a difficult task. Every race deserves and receives reflection; this is no different for him.
“It’s not hard. I mean, you always reflect every race, even the good ones. So it isn’t hard at all.”
Verstappen remains with the belief that his statement was completely his own, and simply telling his side. Despite the less than ideal conditions he finished the Grand Prix in, the Dutchman shared his views, and continued on with his day.
“Sharing my view of things, how I talk, you know, that race panned out. That was actually not ideal for me, but then that was my statement, you know. And then I went back to enjoying my day.”
Statement speculation, and fairness of the penalty points
It was speculated that this statement may have come from, or been influenced by others. The Dutchman is firm that this is his statement, he didn’t discuss it with others, and the penalty does the speaking.
“No, I just didn’t really say much after the race. I think it was quite clear I got penalised for it, so I think that speaks for itself.”
With the incident adding penalty points to his Super Licence, Verstappen is one penalty point away from a race ban. Despite questions on whether this is fair, Verstappen remains largely care free, questioning what fair truly means. His focus is simply on racing how he wants to race.
“I don’t need to go into that to be honest.
“I mean, yeah, what is fair? Is it fair that I’m on 11 points? I don’t know. But at the same time, life is not fair, you know. So, if you look at it like that, I don’t worry about it.
“I just come here to race, and I will always race hard, race how I think I should race, and then we go on to the next race.”
The incident with Russell
The lead up to the incident, began with a Safety Car restart. Large numbers of the leading pack dove into pit lane for fresh tyres, Verstappen only left with a single hard set. A tough restart for Verstappen saw him lose position to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as he had a massive snap out of the last corner. Heading into Turn 1 after the restart, Verstappen and Russell battled, resulting in the Dutchman taking the escape road, rejoining ahead of the Brit who had made contact with him.
“Well, it’s just like I said, it was just a very frustrating few laps in a row. You know, I got driven into in the straight after I almost crashed already with these hard tyres.
“Then I got driven into in Turn 1. Then they tell me that I have to give the place back. I’m like, that makes no sense. So it was like a lot of things that just came together.”
The Dutchman has put the incident down to misjudgment, acknowledging that everyone makes mistakes, and he will just have to learn from this one.
“It was a misjudgment, you know, clearly in the corner. But you don’t need to go into full detail of why, how and what. I mean, everyone makes mistakes in life.
“Everyone learns from them and you just move on.”
Further criticism of Red Bull’s strategy
This lead Red Bull to believe that the Dutchman would receive a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. As a result, they advised him to allow the Brit past. Verstappen has admitted that this call from his team is something they have discussed, and will continue to work on.
“Well, we’re going to try to, of course, handle that better in the future.”
Another aspect of strategy call that he has discussed with Red Bull, is the decision made for him to box. With reasonably decent soft tyres, would it have been worth the risk to stay out?
“Yeah, yeah, for sure. But, you know, at the end of the day, we could sit here and talk about the whole race in Barcelona. But, I mean, I’m not really interested in that.
“We have discussed everything and we just move on.”
The true cause of the incident?
Despite claims that Verstappen is struggling with the car’s performance, and the lack of championship battle, he denies this is the case. For Verstappen, the simple answer to the cause, comes down to communication.
Two weeks later, the Dutchman still holds the belief that Russell shouldn’t have been let by, and that the wrong call was made. Nonetheless, he labels this isn’t as nothing more than frustrating, and something he will move on from.
“Uh, well, it’s difficult to say why or how exactly. I think it was also, you know, just the communication with letting the car by while I found that that was not correct already from my side. And I think if you look at the onboard as well, I think it was at the time, like, yeah, we should have just continued.
“But I got that call, of course. And then, yeah, just the whole end of that race, of course, was quite frustrating for us because actually up until that point, we had a good race, like we did the right strategy for our car.
“And we at least put a bit of pressure on McLaren on the race, where they were, again, very fast compared to everyone else. But yeah, just a frustrating end.”
Continuing to deny claims that the incident was anything more than misfortune and miscommunication, Verstappen assures that this is not a sign of weakness for him. Although he is usually capable of tough battles without contact, this incident doesn’t show a loss of talent.
“Normally not, but at the moment also I don’t really have a lot to lose.
“Of course, like I said, it was not the right thing to do at the time. We learned from that. Just move on from it.”
Is a race ban imminent?
Despite this lingering issue, Verstappen will not change his driving style or his approach to a race.
“Yeah, I don’t know, why should I?”
Refusing to change his approach or style within a race weekend is very on brand for Verstappen, although he can still admit that a race ban will be “not ideal”. While he isn’t prepared to change his driving style, he also isn’t aiming to receive a race ban.
“Well, I’m not here, of course, to try and get a ban.”
With such a big name in Formula 1 facing the threat of a race ban, and his points not beginning to reset until Mexico, this will continue to be a large storyline for the media. Verstappen insists that though this may be the case, it isn’t something he will be focusing on or worrying about. Even if rivals use the potential of a ban against him on the track, the Dutchman won’t be phased, continuing on, and racing how he wants to race.
“Maybe for you, not for me.
“I don’t think about it.
“Yeah, but again, even if they do, it’s not my interest. I’ll race how I want to race.
“It’s not going to change anything.”
