Max Verstappen has described getting \u201cmad\u201d during the Spanish Grand Prix, resulting in a collision with Mercedes driver George Russell, as the one part of an otherwise strong 2025 Formula 1 season that he got wrong.<\/p>\n
In an exclusive interview with Viaplay Netherlands, conducted by ex-F1 driver Giedo van der Garde, Verstappen described what he effectively characterises as a red-mist moment<\/a> as the only point of criticism he has for his own performance. This was caused by a series of on-track setbacks that led to a penalty for hitting Russell.<\/p>\n \u201cI am happy with my season,\u201d Verstappen told Viaplay. \u201cThe only point of criticism is the situation in Barcelona.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened there, of course, wasn\u2019t great, but it also came from the fact that I really care. I could also have said \u2018my car isn\u2019t fast, I\u2019ll let it go\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n This refers to the safety-car restart late in the race where he was frustrated to be forced to take hard tyres when he made a pitstop, then made an error at the last corner that allowed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc to pass him. <\/p>\n Leclerc also moved across on him on the straight and caused a banging of wheels, before Russell attacked at Turn 1. Verstappen took to the run-off, but was told to give the position back.<\/p>\n He lifted on the downhill run from Turn 4 to Turn 5, but as soon as Russell got ahead, Verstappen launched an attack on the inside of Turn 5. He clouted the left side of Russell\u2019s car, and was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision. This dropped him from fifth on-the-road at the chequered flag to ninth in the final classification.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s in part the fact that I cannot accept from myself, when I get out of the car, that I haven\u2019t done everything and given everything,\u201d said Verstappen. \u201cThat makes me mad at myself.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot put in 80% effort. I have to get out of the car with the feeling I\u2019ve tried everything. <\/p>\n “I was mad about what happened on the straight during the restart, then corner one and then I get the radio message that I have to give back the position. At that moment all the signs went red.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was not good, and you learn from that. And moments like those probably won\u2019t happen again. You can be in a similar situation with the car but it is something that you learn from. <\/p>\n “But performance-wise, I am happy. Especially in qualifying I am pleased with myself. And that was maybe, at the beginning of my career, one of my weaker sides.\u201d<\/p>\n It is an unusual admission from Verstappen, albeit one that reflects what clearly happened at the time. <\/p>\n However, one of Verstappen\u2019s often-unseen strengths is that while he tends either to baulk at critical questions or, more often, shrug them off and not engage, he does reflect on what he\u2019s done right and wrong. <\/p>\n In Spain, it was clear he had boiled over thanks to the race going wrong and while he hasn\u2019t actually said whether the contact was deliberate or, as I called it at the time, anger leading to him badly misjudging a needless point-making on-track move, what matters is what it tells us about Verstappen.<\/p>\n His main weakness – realistically probably his only weakness – is that there are occasions when he can get into this kind of state if too much goes against him.<\/p>\n More on Verstappen’s Spain debacle<\/p>\n Our verdict on Verstappen’s hugely controversial Russell clash<\/a>
Russell: Verstappen crash ‘felt deliberate’, antics let him down<\/a>
Verstappen concedes Russell clash shouldn’t have happened<\/a><\/p>\n