After a call was made for an ‘unreserved apology’ from four-time world champion Max Verstappen after his Spanish Grand Prix antics, this was a sentiment that was felt around various Formula 1 circles.

Verstappen appeared to intentionally crash into Mercedes’ George Russell near the end of last weekend’s race, landing him a 10-second penalty, but some believed that to be a very lenient punishment for the crime, including Nico Rosberg, who said that Verstappen should have been disqualified altogether.

However, perhaps more telling was Verstappen’s attitude to the incident after the race. In his post-race interview with Sky Sports F1’s Rachel Brookes, the Dutchman said that it ‘doesn’t matter’ whether his move on Russell was intentional or not.

That was the feeling on Sunday and in the aftermath of the race on Monday morning, but Verstappen’s meek statement released on Monday had one glaring omission. An apology.

Russell then came out and described Verstappen as a ‘bully’, even alleging that Verstappen had threatened to ‘put him in the wall’ during the race, comments that Verstappen denied saying.

What has Russell said on the incident

We will hopefully find out at next weekend’s Canadian GP whether Verstappen has apologised to Russell privately or not, but the Dutchman needs to apologise publicly too.