Russell: Verstappen 'let himself down' with Baku comments

George Russell feels that "super good guy" Max Verstappen "let himself down" in the wake of the pair's on-track spat in Baku's sprint event.

Russell and Verstappen fought wheel-to-wheel through the first three corners of Saturday's short distance race in Azerbaijan.

But a contact in Turn 2 that significantly damaged the sidepod of Verstappen's Red Bull left the Dutchman fuming although he later managed to overtake the Briton to finish third.

After the event, the two-time world champion confronted Russell in parc ferme but dismissed the latter's explanations, calling Russell a "dickhead" as the Mercedes driver walked away.

A while later, speaking to the media, Verstappen continued to blast his rival, ungainly alluding to 'Princess George' in a comment to the Dutch media.

Unsurprisingly, Russell was unimpressed, but played down the run-in, calling the clash a mere "racing incident".

However, the Briton made clear that he didn't appreciate Verstappen's disparaging comments.

Asked if he expected an apology from the Dutchman, Russell said: "No, not really. I don’t need an apology at all."

• Read also: F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2023 Azerbaijan GP

"He’s a two-time champion, leading the championship again at the moment," added Russell.

"It doesn’t bother me, but he probably lets himself down a little bit with those sort of comments.

"Max is a super good guy, great-great driver, just words like that are a bit unnecessary."

Having had the opportunity to see footage of the incident, Russell was somewhat surprised by the benign nature of the contact.

"To be honest I was a bit underwhelmed how little everything was, I was expecting it to be more," he said," quoted by The Race.

"Obviously, there was a bit of contact, as there often is up and down the grid on lap one, so yeah, I was expecting a bit more."

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