A furious Max Verstappen appeared to call George Russell a ‘d***head’ after the Azerbaijan sprint race.
In a newly formatted sprint weekend in Baku, it was not expected to be a race filled with drama and excitement.
However, in the first lap of the sprint, Russell and Verstappen were already going wheel to wheel.
Russell’s Mercedes got off the line much quicker than Verstappen's Red Bull and the pair went into the first corner neck and neck.
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The pair appeared to make contact in turn two and then also in turn three.
At the time, the reigning world champion vented his frustrations on the team radio.
Verstappen eventually got ahead of Russell and finished in third place ahead of the Brit.
After the race ended, the damage on Verstappen’s car was revealed as the camera panned to the Red Bull’s side pod, which had a hole in as a result of the incident.
The cameras then captured a conversation between the pair.
Russell explained: “I had no grip.”, to which Verstappen said: “Mate, we all have no grip. We all need to give a little bit of space.”
The Dutchman then appeared to say: “But expect it next time the same, you know. D***head.”
Fans were quick to react on social media.
One said: “DID MAX JUST CALL GEORGE A D***HEAD????? ahahhahahahha.”
Another tweeted: “Max Verstappen calling George Russell a d***head was not on my 2023 F1 bingo tbh.”
A third fan added: “Verstappen calling Russell a d***head for not leaving space is the ultimate irony.”
Someone else wrote: “George walking away from the whining and Verstappen being a crybaby and calling him d***head.”
Whilst a fifth commented: “That was classless from Max. Russell apologised and the d***head comment was unnecessary.”
When asked about the incident, Verstappen said: “I just don’t understand why you need to take so much risk in lap one, understeer into my sidepod, create a hole. We all have cold tyres, it’s easy to lock up.
“His beautiful way of explaining ‘ah mate, you know locked up, ah look at the onboard’. It doesn’t make sense.”
Topics: Max Verstappen, George Russell, Formula 1, Mercedes, Red Bull Racing
Marcus Chan