George Russell described Max Burstappen’s driving as “win or bin it” after the collision at the Spanish Grand Prix in Formula 1.
The latest in the Verstappen v Russell Skirmishes series was in Barcelona on Sunday when a Red Bull driver was punished for contact with his Mercedes counterpart.
According to Nico Rosberg, Russell was asked to admit his position before he “punched him in” with a hard tire, and was given a 10-second penalty.
“He’s a hard racer, and that’s just as easy,” George Russell told Channel 4.
“He’s a guy like ‘Win, Bin It’.
“He’s been coming forward over the past few years, so we haven’t seen it.
“But we have all been racing Max for a long time since 2011.
“That’s his style. He’s a four-time world champion and I’m a zero-time world champion, so I’m not going to say anything negative about it because he’s clearly doing the right thing.
“But obviously there are a lot of young kids who respect all Formula 1 drivers.
“You see what he did with Imola and you need to take off your hat.
“Then you looked at something like today and it seemed unnecessary. I really don’t understand the rationale.”
George Russell asked how to protect Max Verstappen
George Russell
Verstappen previously responded to Russell’s concerns about the impact on aspiring drivers, ironically saying, “I’ll bring some organizations.”
He initially refused to answer whether it was a deliberate move, but Verstappen later expressed regret.
Christian Horner revealed that Verstappen had apologized to Red Bull in their report.
However, Russell knows there’s nothing that can be done differently to combat Verstappen’s aggressive tactics.
“Not so. You just keep on racing like you,” he said.
“We’ve come back before him. He probably fought back on the podium as Charles and I had fallen on soft tires, which would have come back to him.
“I’m happy that there was no damage and I was able to finish the race with P4.”
Russell described the incident as follows:
“I got a bit of a call on Turn 1. He kept the place. Naturally, he gave me a position back on Turn 5.
“But when he did it, he went to the throttle and crashed into my side.
“I don’t know what’s going on. We’ve finished the P4 and got a penalty and finished the P10 so we won’t lose sleep.”
He added:
“I’ve never seen it in Formula 1. If they think it’s intentional, it depends on the steward.”
The incident masked a strong outcome for Mercedes driver Russell.
Without an immediate upgrade, he wants favorable weather.
“All we need now is cloudy days and cold,” he said.
“The trend is obvious. When it’s cool, or when it’s night races, we’re pretty good. If you’re hot and toast, McLaren goes far and behind.”