Verstappen apologises to Red Bull following controversial Russell clash

Max Verstappen has apologized to the Red Bull Racing team after colliding with George Russell in the Spanish Grand Prix, as revealed by Christian Horner, the team principal of the Austrian team, via Instagram.

Following the clash with Russell, Verstappen received a ten-second time penalty which dropped him to tenth place in the standings. Having already admitted earlier in the day through his own social media that the collision should never have happened, Horner now also makes a statement in which he writes: "Max apologised in the debrief for his incident with Russell."

Reflecting on the race, Horner also states: "The safety car came out at the worst possible time for our strategy, we had the choice to stay out on older tyres or take the gamble with a new set of hard tyres. Hindsight is always 20/20, but we made the best decision at the time with the information we had. The result that followed was frustrating as it was looking to be an easy podium for Max and good Championship points."

In the end, the result cannot be changed, Horner knows. Therefore, he states: "But that’s racing. It can turn in a split second. It is one of the reasons we are all so captivated and in love with this sport. It was a tough weekend, but we will busy working hard over the next weeks to make some set-up improvements to the car and come back strong in Montreal."