Data exposes bizarre Max Verstappen action in George Russell clash
Data shows Max Verstappen made some unusual inputs as he let George Russell through in the latter stages of the Spanish GP.
Max Verstappen had a podium firmly within his grasp after a brilliant strategic display and a solid fight with the McLaren drivers until a late Safety Car triggered a chain of unfortunate events for the four-time world champion.
In an clash with George Russell, we saw what could only be described as a bizarre move from Verstappen—one that could have ended disastrously for both drivers. In the end, Max received a 10-second time penalty and crossed the line in P10. But what exactly happened? Telemetry data reveals the full picture.
Classic Max Verstappen racing instincts
It all began with Kimi Antonelli’s DNF, which brought out the Safety Car. Most of the grid pitted to switch tyres for the final few laps. Max, however, was caught out by his earlier three-stop strategy and was left without a fresh set of softs or mediums.
We had already seen during FP2 that hard tyres were a poor choice for this race, offering no meaningful advantage, but Verstappen had no other option—he bolted on a new set of hards and hoped to hold position.
The restart immediately highlighted how inadequate the hard tyres were.
Exiting the final corner, Max lost rear grip and only just managed to keep the car on track with an astonishing piece of car control. It’s a miracle Max didn’t end up out of the race right then and there.
While a brilliant save, the error cost him time, and with Charles Leclerc and Russell both on softs behind him, Max was suddenly in a vulnerable position.
Leclerc had already pulled ahead of him at the very start of the main straight and gently moved left to rejoin the racing line before Turn 1. But Max, being Max, wasn’t going to give up the position that easily—leading to contact between the two. Classic racing.
However, Verstappen’s focus on Leclerc made him vulnerable to Russell, who, benefitting from the slipstream, had significantly more speed approaching Turn 1.
Russell was excellent on the brakes; telemetry data shows he actually braked slightly earlier than Verstappen, and was clearly ahead with his front tyres at the apex of Turn 1, relative to Max’s mirrors.
The rules in these situations are clear: if the driver on the inside has their front axle ahead of the car’s mirrors alongside by the apex, the corner is theirs.
There was contact again, after which Verstappen went off-track and rejoined ahead of Russell using the run-off area—despite having space on-track to stay within track limits.
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This is not legal, and Verstappen officials later admitted they had deemed it fair that he’d held the place. But, fearing a penalty, his race engineer warned him to had the place back, fully aware that a time penalty would be far more costly.
It took Max three laps to give the position back—and that’s where things took a strange turn.
On the short straight between Turns 4 and 5, Max slowed and handed the position back, only to immediately hit the throttle and lunge towards the Mercedes.
Telemetry reveals that Verstappen lifted off, only to reapply full throttle almost instantly. At the same time, Russell also lifted—preparing for Turn 4, with no expectation of such an aggressive move.
Comparing Lap 64 (where the incident happened) with the previous lap shows that this is not typically a place where a driver gets back on the throttle so aggressively.
What was Verstappen’s intention? It’s difficult to say. The rules clearly state that when giving a position back, a driver may not attack for at least two corners afterward. Surely Max knows this.
Ultimately, the incident backfired on the Red Bull driver. Russell could have easily ended up the innocent victim, but it was Max who paid the price—valuable points were lost, and in a tight Constructors’ Championship fight with Ferrari and Mercedes, that could prove costly.
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