02/06/2025 15:10
Toto Wolff has shared his thoughts over Max Verstappen's collision
with George Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix. The Mercedes
team principal was measured in his appraisal of the situation,
which the Red Bull driver was awarded a 10-second time penalty and
three points on his FIA super licence for, but did contend that if
it was a moment of "road rage" for Verstappen, it is "not good."
After the two drivers first made contact in Turn 1 at the safety
car restart, which saw Russell slide into the RB21 and push it
wide, the Milton Keynes team recommended Verstappen give the place
to the British driver or risk being handed a penalty for leaving
the track and gaining an advantage. This enraged the four-time F1
drivers' champion, who was already aggrieved by contact initially
from Charles Leclerc and then Russell. A couple of laps later, at
the behest of his team, heading into Turn 5 Verstappen slowed,
allowing the W16 to pass, but just before it cleared his car and
turned into the corner, he accelerated, instigating contact. Wolff
explained how the Brackley-based squad was unaware at the time of
the instruction from Red Bull, and believed Verstappen to have an
issue. "So I just heard, actually, that Max had the call to let him
[Russell] pass, right? I didn't know," the Austrian told media,
including RacingNews365 , when asked for his view of the incident.
"We were under the impression in the race that he had a problem
with the car, and that's why he was so slow getting out of out of
[Turn] 4." Addressing the more immediate matter at hand, Wolff
likened the move to when drivers let rivals past just before DRS
zones, in a bid to re-take the position instantly. "I mean, if it
was road rage, which I can't imagine, because it was too obvious,
then it's not good. But the thing is, I don't know what he aimed
for. Did he want to let George pass and immediately re-pass? "You
know, put George [as] the car ahead, and then... like the old DRS
games, letting him pass it the right way [moment], or... for me,
it's just incomprehensible." Explaining the lack of clarity over
Verstappen's thinking in the moment, Wolff chose to allow the
65-time grand prix winner to speak for himself, which he has so far
opted not to do. "But again, I don't know exactly what the
motivations were, and I don't want to jump on it and say: 'This was
road rage or...' etc., let's see what his arguments are," he said.
After a pause of a few seconds, the 53-year-old added: "It wasn't
nice." Verstappen has since taken to social media to issue a
statement, describing the move as "not right and should not have
happened", but did not offer a direct apology.
