Windsor sees Red Bull as the 'real culprit' in the Verstappen-Russell fiasco

As a result of a late safety car, all the teams and drivers made tyre changes, but the Austrian tean put the Dutchman on the hard tyres, while the rest of his rivals were on the soft tyres, immidiately putting the four-time world champion on the back foot.

Charles Leclerc then made a move past Verstappen after almost sliding into the wall on the restart, which then led to Russell diving down the inside of turn 1, causing Verstappen to go off the track and up the escape road.

The 27-year-old was then told by his team to give the position back to Russell, with Verstappen then swerving into the Brit to collide with him, giving the Dutchman a ten-second time penalty to drop him to P10.  

First, Windsor, speaking on his YouTube channel, has his say on Red Bull's strategy. According to the Australian, it was incomprehensible that Verstappen was sent out on hard tyres during the safety car:

"Either Pirelli have it wrong, or Red Bull have it wrong, because Pirelli made clear going into the start of the Grand Prix that Max Verstappen had three sets of used softs. It was probably about that third set, because he had already used two sets in the race, which was quite worn or faulty. But Pirelli wouldn't put out a statement saying that Max still has three sets of used tyres unless it was accurate.”

Windsor then noticed the move that was made by Leclerc right at the restart when the safety car came into the pits, with the Monegasque making contact with Verstappen down the straight.

“He overtook him and moved over on him at 330 kph before the braking area into turn 1. Max stayed absolutely straight, and from the overhead shot that Charles just drove into him.

"It's one of the most dangerous things I've seen since Lance Stroll did the same to Fernando Alonso in Austin a few years back. I have got a massive amount of respect for Charles Leclerc, and I'm not sure if he did it deliberately, but he hit Max Verstappen at a speed of 330 kph. It was inexcusable, just terrible.”

Afterwards, Verstappen came into contact with Russell, after being told by his team to give the position back. Windsor was critical of the Austrian team here too: “The FIA stewards looked at the situation [with Russell at turn 1] and decided to take no further action. There was no need to tell Max to give the position to George.”

Ultimately, the order Verstappen received from his team led to a collision with Russell. According to Windsor, it's understandable that the Dutchman became so angry: “Of course, then all 'holier than thous' and the cynics were already saying that Max should be banned, it was typical Max Verstappen.

"For me, it was just the flip side of everything he had done that afternoon now being thrown back in his face. The real culprit was ultimately Red Bull itself. Even as I speak, I am absolutely stupefied that they made that call to bring him in,” concluded Windsor.