F1 champion Max Verstappen in Red Bull 'protest' over Spanish GP antics

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen in Red Bull 'protest' over Spanish GP antics

Max Verstappen and George Russell collided in Spain

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 4 June 2025 10:55 Updated: 11:17

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has confirmed that Max Verstappen did abide by his team's orders in Spain, despite a 'protest'.

The four-time world champion was told via team radio to give Mercedes' George Russell fourth place, following contact between the pair heading into turn one after the safety car restart.

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Red Bull wanted to avoid picking up a penalty and so ordered Verstappen to swap positions with his Mercedes rival, but Verstappen seemed to be furious on his team radio, and his frustrations got the better of him, when he later appeared to intentionally crash into Russell.

That particular move saw Verstappen being given a 10-second penalty by race stewards, and he was demoted from fifth down to 10th in the immediate aftermath of the race.

Now, Marko has had his say on the two events before Verstappen's penalty incident, the contact between Russell and Verstappen into turn one, and the contact with Charles Leclerc on the start finish straight at the safety car restart.

"On the straight, I’d say Leclerc drove into Max’s car," Marko told Austrian TV channel Servus TV. "Then came the situation with Russell, and you have to say, Max knows the regulations in detail. He immediately said, ‘Hey, he was out of control, and that’s why I had to go wide.’

"The internal discussion was that it was 50-50, and since it happened right after the safety car period, the impact of a 10-second penalty is much greater than if it happens mid-race. So, that was one thing.

"Max didn’t want to give the position back, but he was instructed to do so - he did it under protest."

Verstappen fired up

While Red Bull and Verstappen's sensible approach banished all possibility of getting a penalty for that particular incident, it did further provoke the Dutchman's ire on a day where he was unable to challenge for the race victory.

It was when he looked as though he was going to give the position back to Russell that he then sped up and crashed into the Brit, a move which 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg said should have resulted in a disqualification.

As it happened, the FIA race stewards confirmed after the race that Verstappen did not need to give the position back to Russell in the first place, ruling that no further action was taken on the initial incident.

That official statement wouldn't have done much to improve the four-time champion's mood, with Verstappen already engaging in a fiery post-race interview with Sky Sports F1's Rachel Brookes.

The Dutchman will now head to the 10th round of the season in Canada 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.