'All hell broke loose' - Helmut Marko opens up on Max Verstappen fallout at Spanish GP

Helmut Marko and Max Verstappen — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

'All hell broke loose' - Helmut Marko opens up on Max Verstappen fallout at Spanish GP

Max Verstappen collided with George Russell at the Spanish GP

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 4 June 2025 12:14

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has spoken about the 'misjudgment' from Max Verstappen which led to a 10-second time penalty at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Verstappen was handed the hefty penalty by race stewards having appeared to intentionally crash into the Mercedes of George Russell, who was able to continue on in the race, but was shocked in his post-race interview.

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The Dutchman's penalty meant that he ended up finishing 10th, in what was a huge blow to his world championship chances.

In Verstappen's fiery post-race interview, he said that it 'doesn't matter' whether or not his move on Russell was intentional, but released a statement earlier this week saying that his move was 'not right and shouldn't have happened'.

Now, Marko has explained the details surrounding Verstappen's collision with Russell, via Austrian TV channel Servus TV.

"Max lifted off the throttle, so we all assumed he was letting Russell through," he said. "And then suddenly he accelerated again, I don’t know what kind of misjudgment or thought process was going on inside him. And then, as they say, all hell broke loose.

"There have already been issues in the past. It was unnecessary, and a lot of points lost. But, because of all the incidents and wrong decisions that unfortunately happened, emotions simply got the better of him."

Verstappen reignites Russell feud

The 'past issues' that Marko referred to include an incident at last season's Qatar GP which caused seemingly irreparable damage to Verstappen and Russell's relationship.

At the 2024 Qatar GP, Verstappen accused Russell of trying to get him a penalty in the stewards' room following qualifying, after the Dutchman had impeded Russell and lost his pole position as a result.

Russell then came out and described Verstappen as a 'bully', even alleging that Verstappen had threatened to 'put him in the wall' during the race, comments that Verstappen denied saying.

At the end-of-season drivers dinner, Verstappen and Russell then sat as far away from each other as possible, and it is unclear as to whether the pair have spoken about their feud since.

It remains to be seen whether or not Verstappen has been in contact with Russell to apologise for the latest issue between the pair, but Russell warned Verstappen to think of the impact his actions can have on people who look up to him as a four-time champion.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Ferrari George Russell