Autobayng News Team
Max Verstappen was unhappy to be reminded of his Spanish Grand Prix collision with George Russell after falling two points short of winning the world championship.
The Red Bull driver received a 10-second time penalty for hitting the Mercedes driver’s car after being told to let Russell overtake him at the Circuit de Catalunya. It dropped him five places in the final classification, costing him nine points.
Russell accused Verstappen of crashing into him. Verstappen refused to confirm whether he had done so deliberately, replying: “Does it matter?”
The stewards noted that after slowing to let Russell draw alongside him, Verstappen “suddenly accelerated and collided with car 63.” They ruled “the collision was undoubtedly caused by the actions of car one.” This was the only collision between two cars all season which earned a driver three penalty points instead of the usual two.
Asked in the official FIA press conference whether he regretted the incident in hindsight, Verstappen replied: “You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season.
“The only thing you mention is Barcelona. I knew that would come.”
“You’re giving me a stupid grin now,” he added to the reporter who asked the question.
“It’s part of racing at the end,” said Verstappen. “You live and learn. The championship is one of 24 rounds. I’ve also had a lot of early Christmas presents given to me in the second half, so you can also question that.”
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Verstappen mentioned the same incident in an interview last week, saying: “I regret how I handled it at the time.”
“Of course that’s a moment that you look back at and that was not okay,” he added. “But it’s also not a moment that, at the end of the season, let’s say I miss out on the championship, it’s not a moment that I will say ‘that’s the moment that I lost it’.”
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