I witnessed this controversy go down. I was watching the race with my family and we all watched it go down. The team radios were lit up like Christmas trees with commentary from the drivers. Quite a great deal of profanity coming from George Russell and Max Verstappen. It made me angry to see this; George Russell is one of my favorite drivers. Sebastian Vettel is my other favorite driver, but he no longer races
According to MSN.com page YardBarker, Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen has one more controversy to his name. The previous weekend had the F1 racers in Monaco, home territory for Ferrari driver Charles LeClerc (pronounced "sharl le claire). Verstappen ripped into the FIA for a rule change. This rule change involved the stating of only two pit stops minimum. This caused havoc and mayhem for those intending to box (F1 terminology for making a pit stop)
This past weekend was the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, home territory for Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr. Verstappen committed another infraction. The infraction committed by the Dutch driver was that in the 66 lap race, Verstappen was in fourth and Mercedes AMG Petronas driver George Russell was in fifth. Red Bull engineers and team told Verstappen to move aside and let Russell pass after tapping Russell's car on a safety car restart on Lap 62. The Safety Car was initiated after Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Kimi Antonelli suffered mechanical failure, causing his car to break down and run into the gravel pit
At first, it looked as though Verstappen was complying with the order, but instead he collided hard with Russell's car while trying to keep Russell from passing, causing a flurry of swearing to emerge from Russell. Suffice to say, the still running Mercedes driver was on fire. This earned Verstappen a 10 second penalty from the stewards, knocking him down to 10th place
When asked about it afterwards, George Russell stated via a Sky Sports interview "I was as surprised as you guys were. I've seen those sort of maneuvers before on simulator games and go karting, but never in F1. Ultimately, we came home in P4, and he came home in P10. I don't really know what was going through his mind. It felt deliberate in the moment, so it felt surprising."
Nico Rosberg, a former Formula 1 driver himself, but now Sky Sports analyst, agrees wholeheartedly with Russell. According to Nate Saunders of ESPN, Verstappen should have been red flagged and disqualified for the collision. Of course, Verstappen didn't apologize. Following the race, Verstappen said "I'll bring some tissues next time."
In races to follow, Verstappen should be far more careful. Race stewards issued him three penalty points for him. He currently has 11 penalty points on his super license. He will be suspended for one race if he is issued another in the races to come, in Canada and Austria. Missing one race for Verstappen would be deadly because he is losing ground in the race for the drivers' championship. In terms of ranking, he has 137 points, making him third behind McLaren driver Lando Norris, who has 176 and Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri, who has 186 points
Verstappen's aggressive driving style and arrogant attitude could make enemies of other teams and drivers. It seems, however, he does not care whether he is liked or disliked, as long as he's winning or getting into first place. This type of mindset is making him one of the grid's more polarizing racers
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