We are done and dusted with the first Sprint Race of the season and we had some heated moments between our Championship leader, Max Verstappen, and George Russell.
As the Sprint race got underway with Max at P3 and Russell at P4, Verstappen had a poor reaction time to the start which gave George Russell an opportunity to overtake Max on the inside. Unfortunately, he was not able to hold his line completely and made contact with Max Verstappen. Verstappen had a huge hole in his sidepod which was discovered after the race.
The damage on Max’s car is huge 😮
Remarkable he was able to finish in P3 👏#AzerbaijanGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/bwL3oEwZXh
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 29, 2023
Verstappen did manage to overtake him later on during the race using a similar move without contact. After which Verstappen’s race engineer came on the radio and said: “Lovely job Max. Without contact as well, nicely done” To which Verstappen replied “Yeah I know how to do that”. The two drivers exchanged a few words after the race as well.
What did Max Verstappen and George Russell say about the incident?
George Russell’s overtake did not initiate an investigation by the FIA as it was a start lap incident. However, after the race, George Russell ran into Max Verstappen where Russell excused himself saying he had a low grip at the start of the race. Verstappen did not agree with this excuse as he argued saying everyone has a low grip during the start. The conversation led to Verstappen saying “But expect the next time the same you know… Dickhead”
George and Max have a tense post-Sprint debrief over their Lap 1 contact 😅#AzerbaijanGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/TjtwOyu5ff
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 29, 2023
During the Post Sprint interview, George Russell was asked about the incident to which he replied: “I was down the inside, and as a driver, you know the risks of being on the outside. I am here to fight. I am here to win, and I am not going to hold back because he is leading the world championship.”
Max Verstappen and Red Bull are currently leading the Championship tables and so far they seemed to be dominant when it comes to race pace. we saw Sergio Perez passing Leclerc with ease during the Sprint race today.
George Russell was in a fighting mood both during and after the Baku sprint 🥊#F1 #AzerbaijanGP #MaxVerstappen pic.twitter.com/VkMzAD4NCU
— Autosport (@autosport) April 29, 2023
Verstappen was clearly not happy with Russell even though he came in 3rd place, the Red Bull team felt that he could have overtaken Leclerc as well for a 1-2 finish for Red Bull.
Max Verstappen said this during the post-race interview: “He’s very good at explaining and creating excuses. Everyone had cold tires, and I think I had every right to be on the outside. I gave him enough space. But you need two guys to work together to make the corner. Clearly, he didn’t.”
It seems as though George Russell went after Verstappen like he had nothing to lose. According to the new Sprint Format, the Sprint Shootout and the Sprint Race will not affect the grid for the main race on Sunday. This could have probably caused George Russell to be a bit more aggressive than usual.
Christian Horner said “The result of it was we ended up with quite a lot of bodywork damage” during his interview about the incident.
Horner went on to say that Max Verstappen will not forget the incident soon, so we could see some aggressive battles between Verstappen and Russell over the next few races.
Fans react to the collision between Verstappen and Russell
Here are some of the fan’s reactions to the incident that caused a huge hole in Max Verstappen’s car.
How Max was bodied by Sir George Russell 😳🫣 pic.twitter.com/ku8FMkysoh
— #CL16 🆑🏎️ (@AmScuderia) April 29, 2023
He was on the limit… but it was good… dont punish him this is exactly what max needs… dont go back in time
— Solomon (@PhilosferStond) April 29, 2023
max verstappen “we all need to give a little bit of space” pic.twitter.com/EnYse1MsMb
— ☆ (@dearlews) April 29, 2023
Max Verstappen has had his share of incidents where he has not left enough space, for example, the incident at Monza in 2021 where Verstappen found himself on top of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes as Hamilton was coming out of the pits.
The drivers and teams now prepare themselves for the main race tomorrow. Verstappen should not be having any Russell problems at least at the start. Max Verstappen starts in 2nd place while a poor performance from George Russell during qualifying places him in 11th with Charles Leclerc taking his 3rd consecutive pole at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
