Max Verstappen in Red Bull ‘protest’ over Spanish GP antics

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has confirmed that Max Verstappen did abide by his team’s orders in Spain, despite a ‘protest’.

Red Bull wanted to avoid picking up a penalty and so ordered Verstappen to swap positions with his Mercedes rival, but Verstappen seemed to be furious on his team radio, and his frustrations got the better of him, when he later appeared to intentionally crash into Russell.

That particular move saw Verstappen being given a 10-second penalty by race stewards, and he was demoted from fifth down to 10th in the immediate aftermath of the race.

Verstappen fired up

It was when he looked as though he was going to give the position back to Russell that he then sped up and crashed into the Brit, a move which 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg said should have resulted in a disqualification.

As it happened, the FIA race stewards confirmed after the race that Verstappen did not need to give the position back to Russell in the first place, ruling that no further action was taken on the initial incident.

That official statement wouldn’t have done much to improve the four-time champion’s mood, with Verstappen already engaging in a fiery post-race interview with Sky Sports F1’s Rachel Brookes.

The Dutchman will now head to the 10th round of the season in Canada 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.