Christian Horner slams Sky Sports commentator for what he said about Max Verstappen and George Russell incident during Spanish Grand Prix

Christian Horner has hit back at Sky Sports commentator and 2016 Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg for what he said about the Max Verstappen and George Russell incident.

Verstappen and Russell were involved in a hugely controversial moment in the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix.

With the McLarens out in front, the drama occurred on Lap 64, when Verstappen was told to let Russell through after the pair first made contact on Lap 61.

The Dutchman looked like he was going to let the Mercedes star through at Turn 5, but then appeared to accelerate as the Brit went past, which led to another coming together.

As a result, Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty, which dropped him from P5 to P10.

Speaking on commentary on Sky Sports, Rosberg pulled no punches as he said: "Wow, that's bad, bad, bad, that's seriously bad.

“He just rammed him full on, he needs to be black flagged [disqualified], there's no other way."

Rosberg added: "He needs to get black flagged, he just crashed into Russell on purpose, that was horrible."

After the race, Red Bull team boss Horner was asked about Rosberg's comments.

He said: "Nico is quite sensational in the way he commentates, so we will leave it there."

When asked if Verstappen had 'let himself down', Horner replied: "Look, I haven’t had a chance to speak to Max. It’s something we’ll talk about in time.

"I think it’s clear that you could hear that he was frustrated."

He continued: "He didn’t agree, you can hear, with both Charles and George. I haven’t had a chance to speak to him because he’s had to speak to you guys and now he’s up in the stewards talking about the Charles incident.

"It’s something that we’ll discuss internally and look at."

Nico Rosberg discusses the collision between Max Verstappen and George Russell. pic.twitter.com/b5Lubf55Ky

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 1, 2025

Verstappen himself took responsibility on Monday after taking to social media to release a statement.

He wrote: "We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, till the safety car came out. Our tyre choice to the end and some moves after the safety car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened.

"I always give everything out there for the team and emotions can run high. You win some together, you lose some together. See you in Montreal."