Max Verstappen has said his controversial collision with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix “was not right” and “shouldn’t have happened” in a post on social media the morning after the race.
The four-time world champion was given a 10-second penalty for causing the collision after he appeared to let Russell overtake on the entry of Turn 5, only to accelerate and drive into the side of the Mercedes.
Verstappen showed no signs of contrition in his post-race interviews and when asked if he caused the collision on purpose, he responded, “does it matter?”
However, in a post on Instagram on Monday morning, the Red Bull driver admitted his mistake, saying he had been frustrated by the events leading up to the incident.
“We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, till the safety car came out,” Verstappen said. “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.”
The Red Bull driver was running third when a safety car was deployed to remove Andrea Kimi Antonelli‘s Mercedes from the Turn 10 gravel trap.
Because Verstappen had already used his allocation of soft and medium tyres over a three-stop strategy, he had only a set of hard tyres left to fit when he pitted under the safety car.
The two cars behind him — Charles Leclerc and Russell — both fitted soft tyres under the safety car and therefore had a performance advantage when racing resumed.
Leclerc passed Verstappen shortly after they crossed the start finish line to resume racing, while Russell attempted a move into Turn 1 that saw the Mercedes driver slide into Verstappen and force the Red Bull driver wide.
The stewards launched an investigation into the incident, which Red Bull feared might result in Verstappen receiving a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Verstappen’s engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, radioed the reigning champion to tell him to give the position back to Russell to avoid a potential penalty — much to the frustration of Verstappen.
On the approach to Turn 5 on the following lap, Verstappen appeared to cede the position to Russell, only to accelerate again before the apex and collide with the Mercedes.
The stewards deemed Verstappen entirely at fault for the collision and issued a 10-second penalty and three penalty points on his superlicence.
The additional penalty points mean for the next two races Verstappen will be one point away from a race ban.
Meanwhile, the 10th place finish has dropped Verstappen 49 points off championship leader Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings.
Later on Monday, Red Bull boss Christian Horner said Verstappen had apologised to the team after the race.
“The safety car came out at the worst possible time for our strategy, we had the choice to stay out on older tyres or take the gamble with a new set of hard tyres,” Horner wrote on instagram.
“Hindsight is always 20/20, but we made the best decision at the time with the information we had. The result that followed was frustrating as it was looking to be an easy podium for Max and good Championship points.
“Max apologised in the debrief for his incident with Russell.
“The [safety car] also hurt Yuki’s race, he would’ve been very close if not in the points otherwise if you look at the trajectory he was on.
“But that’s racing. It can turn in a split second.”