George Russell accuses Max Verstappen of a deliberate accident in F1 Spanish GP

George Russell accused Max Verstappen to deliberately crash during Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 And said this decision was “totally useless”.

The drama degenerated in Barcelona after restarting the Tour 61 safety car, while Verstappen, third, was immediately put under pressure from behind after a slide outside the last corner.

Charles Leclerc He first exceeded it the end of the start-Finh but struck the wheels with Verstappen in the process, prohibiting the quadruple champion who said the Ferrari The driver needed penalization.

Russell then pressurized Verstappen having descended the interior of turn 1, but the driver of Red Bull remained in the lead after being forced to use the escape road.

Three laps later, however, Red Bull told Verstappen to hand over Russell Fourth place and the dutchman, even angry, who did not agree with the order, slowed down in turn 5 before accelerating again and in the Mercedes.

Verstappen finally let Russell overtake but still received a 10s penalty which dropped him from the fifth to the 10th and the Briton said “it was very deliberate”.

“This is something that I saw several times in Sim Racing and on Iracing. I have never seen it in a Formula 1 race,” added Russell, who finished fourth.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo of: Peter Fox / Getty Images

“It was therefore something new. It’s a bit of a shame. Max is clearly one of the best pilots in the world, but maneuvers like this are simply useless and drop it.

“It’s a shame for all young children who are looking for their eyes and aspire to be Formula 1 drivers. So, as I said, I don’t know what he thought. In the end, I will not lose sleep because I also benefited from these antics.”

Russell thinks that the questions must be asked if the commissioners believe that Verstappen really thought it because you “cannot deliberately crash on another driver”.

“We have brought our lives into play,” he said. “We are fortunate that cars are as safe as they are these days. We must not take it for granted.

“As I said, it is up to the delegates to determine whether it is deliberate or not. If they think it is deliberate, then they must have a difficult question.”

Russell was perplexed by the move since the Mercedes driver finished in a second of the third Leclerc – therefore Verstappen could easily have retaliated despite the late passage in hard rubber while others were on Softs.

“It just seemed very strange and bizarre and left,” said Russell. “It doesn’t really make sense to deliberately crash on someone and risk harming your own car, risking a penalty.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo of: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

“He could have returned to fight for the podium. Charles really fell at the end, pushing the two soft tires too strong.

“Obviously, it was probably frustrated to be on hard tires. Lost at first, but it was still five laps to do. I’m not going to lose sleep.”

This means that Verstappen is now 49 points behind the championship leader Oscar Piastriwhich won the Spanish GP in a McLaren 1-2 before Lando Norris.

Photos of Spanish GP – Race