George Russell reportedly shed thoughts on his on-track battle with reigning world champion Max Verstappen during the F1 Sprint in Baku and their verbal spat in the aftermath of Saturday’s event. As the first Sprint of the Formula 1 2023 season concluded, Verstappen finished at P3 behind winner Sergio Perez and second-placed Charles Leclerc. Starting at P2, the Mercedes youngster made contact with the Red Bull star in lap one, which made the defending champion lose positions.
While he overtook the likes of George Russell, hanging on to a P3 finish in the Sprint Race, the 25-year-old Dutchman failed to overtake Leclerc. As the drivers made their way to Parc Ferme, Max Verstappen was seen approaching Russell before stopping him and giving him an earful. “He has had his fair share of giving moves like that and being tough and hard at racing,” Russell said on Thursday at the Miami Grand Prix, as per BBC.
“Something you learn as a kid”
“It’s a little bit poor to see how he spat his dummy out when he got something back in the same regard. Something you learn as a kid is if you give something you’ve got to be prepared to take it as well,” Russell added. But Verstappen claimed on Thursday claimed that the relations between two of the drivers were absolutely fine heading into Miami for the fifth round of the F1 2023 season.
Meanwhile, Russell admitted the racing at the Azerbaijan GP 2023 in Baku was good, adding that the incident involving Verstappen was the only exciting happening that weekend. “It was pretty boring otherwise. We will have a chat, everything’s fine,” he added. The incident on Lap 1 of the Sprint Race in Baku, while the Mercedes driver looked to overtake the reigning champion on the inside of Turn 2, but the latter tried to hold position around the outside.
The clash resulted in Verstappen’s sidepod being damaged, which prevented him to challenge teammate Sergio Perez for the first Sprint win of 2023. However, he finished 3rd in the sprint and finished P2 on Sunday, to wrap up a 1-2 finish for Red Bull in the main race. “I was very surprised by how angry he was,” Russell said in conclusion.
