In the final laps of the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and George Russell kept the world on the edge of their seats as they rekindled their rivalry from the previous season. With just a handful of laps left, tensions were high as Verstappen struggled to maintain his P3 position on hard tyres as the safety car appeared.
Safety Car tyre strategy
Following a pit stop by Red Bull during the Safety Car, Verstappen was put on hard tyres, a strategy that confused him, as he voiced his concern to his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase.
This strategy put him at a disadvantage as everyone opted for the soft tyres.
Contact on track
A tricky start after the Safety Car added fuel to the fire, and the Red Bull driver’s frustration grew as he lost a position to Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc thanks to a huge moment out of the final corner, and their cars made light contact as they barreled down the main straight.
A furious Verstappen was then involved with Mercedes driver George Russell, who dived into turn 1, leaving Verstappen to take the escape road to regain his position as the Mercedes driver made contact with the RB21.
As Verstappen attempted to let Russell by out of turn 4, huge contact was made as he clouted into the Mercedes at turn 5 in his attempts to take back the position.
“Max, can you let Russell through, please?” Race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase asked over the radio.
The driver fired back, saying: “What? I was ahead, mate. What the fuck! He just ran me off the road.”
The crash led to the stewards handing Verstappen a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points on his super license. This resulted in a P10 finish and a potential race ban on the horizon. He now sits on 11 points.
Verstappen gets candid
The head loss raised scrutiny on Verstappen’s aggressive racing style and temper; this led to a unique post-race contemplation where the driver took to Instagram and shared a statement taking responsibility for the accident.
“We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, till the safety car came out. Our tyre choice to the end and some moves after the safety car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened.
“I always give everything out there for the team, and emotions can run high. You win some together, you lose some together. See you in Montreal.”
In a surprising turn of events, Verstappen admitted his mistake and held himself accountable for losing his composure on track. Russell, on the other hand, remained composed during post-race interviews to avoid further escalating the situation.
