Max Verstappen confronts Sky Sports F1 pundit in fiery Spanish Grand Prix interview

Spanish Grand Prix

Max Verstappen confronts Sky Sports F1 pundit in fiery Spanish Grand Prix interview

The Dutchman dropped from fifth to tenth

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Sunday 1 June 2025 18:42 Updated: 21:41

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Max Verstappen has given a tense interview to Sky Sports after his 10-second penalty at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The penalty was handed down by the stewards at the end of the race for a late incident which saw the reigning world champion thump into the side of George Russell's Mercedes.

HOT TAKES: 'Max Verstappen is a BULLY' as champion handed 'pathetic' penalty

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The move, coming after Verstappen had been frustrated first by making a safety car restart on slower hard tyres and then by being told to give up his place to Russell after being forced off the track during a failed overtake, appeared to be at best wildly reckless, and more likely deliberate.

The penalty bumped the Dutchman down from fifth to tenth, and immediately became the focus of most drivers' post-race interviews.

Verstappen: 'Does it matter if crash was intentional?'

Sky Sports F1's Rachel Brookes got one of the first chances to speak to Verstappen, opening by asking him whether the contact had been intentional, to which he replied: "Does it matter?"

Told that yes, fans and pundits watching on would probably think his intentions mattered, he responded: "Yeah, OK. That's great. I prefer to speak about the race rather than one single moment."

The controversial driver opened up a little more when asked if the penalty would hurt his title chances, responding: "If there are any. I think we are way too slow to fight for the title. That was clear again today. We tried to do a three-stop and that was quite good but we also needed it because we had quite a bit of degradation on the tyres.

"Unfortunately, the Safety Car came out at the end and we ran out of tyres to use and the hard tyre was not the right tyre. When you only have six laps to go, everyone can go flat out and you are severely grip limited on the hard."

The interview came to an awkward end when Brookes asked said of his radio conduct and aggressive racing: "It's horrible to see that shine taken off, for fans and the kids watching."

"Well, that's your opinion. We'll leave it there."

"I prefer to speak about the race, not just one single moment."

Max Verstappen reacts to his collision with George Russell. pic.twitter.com/YlH4LpiZoN
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 1, 2025