George Russell says the extreme driving by Max Verstappen at the 2025 Spanish GP “felt deliberate” as the defending world champion almost crashed the Brit out at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a ridiculous move.
The incident happened on Lap 65 at Turn 5, shortly after Gianpiero Lambiase had told his driver to slow down and surrender a position he had kept by leaving the track during an earlier clash at Turn 1.
On that occasion, Red Bull’s star man had struggled for traction on his hard tyres and was passed by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and Russell quickly followed this up with an ambitious lunge too, but the pair banged wheels and the 27-year-old Dutchman headed off the track.
So as the four-time champion later appeared to slow to let his rival through under orders from his engineer, he then suddenly dived into the corner and the pair almost hit each other, as the lone Silver Arrows car showed sharp reactions to counter-steer out of the crash.
Verstappen then continued on his way and refused to give up the spot, earning a 10-second time penalty, and leaving fans astonished at what they saw; including Russell, who felt the move was deliberate at the 2025 Spanish GP.
“I was as surprised as you guys were,” Russell told Sky Sports F1. “I’ve seen those sort of manoeuvres before on simulator games and go-karting but never in F1.”
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He added: “I don’t really know what was going through his mind. It felt deliberate in the moment, so it felt surprising.”
Russell says Verstappen let himself down at 2025 Spanish GP
Verstappen is known for his blistering speed and ruthless personality on the track, which allows him to make some of the boldest and the most exceptional moves in the history of Formula 1.
However, he is also somewhat of a poisoned chalice in that his ruthlessness also means he can be overly aggressive, particularly when he becomes emotional when he’s under pressure or in a tough race.
For example, fans will remember his driving at the 2024 Hungarian GP or the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP as he aimed to keep track position by any means necessary. With that on show once again in Spain, Russell believes the Red Bull ace has let himself down.
“It’s like in Austin last year [2024 United States GP],” Russell continued. “Some of the best moves ever then you go to Mexico and he lets himself down a bit. You go to Imola with one of the best moves of all-time, then this happens.
“It cost him and his team a lot of points. Charles and I actually dropped off like a stone on those last two laps. He probably could have come back to fight for the podium.
“So I won’t lose any sleep [over it]. We have our own problems and that’s making our car go faster.”
