Horner understands Verstappen's emotions: 'Sometimes that's racing'

It was not Max Verstappen 's weekend in Azerbaijan. Two races, just as many times teammate Sergio Perez took victory at the Baku street circuit. After an ill-timed safety car on Sunday and hard contact with George Russell's Mercedes (causing damage to his Red Bull a day earlier), the Dutchman saw his closest rival for the world title move closer in the championship standings.

After the Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon, Verstappen quickly resigned himself to the fact that the win had passed him by. A day earlier, the two-time world champion was furious. In his view, Russell's overconfident action caused the Red Bull to puncture a hole in the sidepod, which immediately left Verstappen without a chance of winning the sprint race.

An angry Verstappen went to see Russell after the sprint race, while the latter was unaware of any wrongdoing. Much was written and said in the media afterwards, something Red Bull's Christian Horner thought was overblown. "I think you've got two competitive guys. I mean, Max was obviously aggrieved because it had done a significant amount of damage to his car, which then compromised his race. So, of course, emotions when they take their crash helmets off, Max has never been shy to show his emotions. He's not afraid of hard racing, but I think the damage that it caused to his car, that it compromised his race, was what he felt aggrieved by."

According to Horner, the incident has long since been forgotten by the drivers. "But, you know, sometimes that's racing. I think they quickly turned the page. You know, he voiced his opinion and quickly focused on the next event."