George Russell Makes Scathing Claim After Max Verstappen Collision at Spanish GP, 'It felt very deliberate'

Mercedes F1 driver George Russell had a fiery reaction towards Max Verstappen after the drivers collided at the Spanish Grand Prix. Verstappen hit Russell's car while seemingly giving back for an earlier collision, which left the Mercedes car damaged. Russell and Verstappen have a long history of animosity on and off the track. The pair had an acrimonious back-and-forth last season. Russell, after Sunday's collision in Barcelona, went right back at Verstappen for the retaliatory move during his post-race debrief.

"It felt very deliberate, to be honest," Russell told reporters after the race.

 "It's something that I've seen numerous times in sim racing and on iRacing. Never have I seen it in a Formula 1 race. So that was something new. 

"It's a bit of a shame because Max is clearly one of the best drivers in the world. "But maneuvers like that are just totally unnecessary and sort of lets him down. It's a shame for all the young kids looking up, aspiring to be Formula 1 drivers.

"So, as I said, I don't know what he was thinking. In the end, I'm not going to lose sleep over it because I ultimately benefited from those antics."

The collision ensued after the safety car bunched up the field, leading to a string of on-track battles during the last handful of laps.

All the cars took a precautionary step by having a pit stop to get a fresh pair of tyres. They did it because Barcelona was chewing up the cars' rubber. 

Rigid about his choices for tyres due to three pit stops, Verstappen was put on hard tyres, which left the driver vulnerable since the other nearby cars were on soft tyres.

After losing position to Charles Leclerc, Verstappen had Russell right on his tail. Russell went for the overtake on Verstappen, though there was contact between the drivers.