British media sees Verstappen 'tarnishing his reputation' after the Spanish Grand Prix

After a late safety car brought the leaders into the pits, Verstappen and Red Bull went onto the hard tyres, while all his rivals changed to the softs, putting the Dutchman under huge pressure.

Going into turn 1 after the restart, Russell looked to make a move, forcing Verstappen off the track to rejoin ahead of him. The Red Bull driver was told to give the place back to the Mercedes driver, but then ended up swerving into him instead of letting him by, resulting in a ten-second time penalty to drop him down to P10.

"Psychological pressure in press conferences, strategy gambles and brave moves at turn one, Max Verstappen and Red Bull tried everything to overtake the faster McLarens. None of it worked," is how The Times started with their description of the Verstappen-Russell battle.

After being told to give the place back to the Mercedes driver, the "red mist descended, Verstappen’s team radio filled with expletives as a late safety car and hard tyres left him dropping down the field, crashing with George Russell, and then receiving a ten-second penalty, leaving him tenth."

The Telegraph saw "Max Verstappen beginning to crack" after McLaren took a dominant one-two finish in Barcelona, while the Dutchman tumbled down the order.

The critical late safety car and tyre choice changed the completion of the race, "leaving the four-time world champion, in his words, a 'sitting duck'."

The medium then continued on, saying that the incident will "go down in history or infamy, depending on your point of view.

"Verstappen appeared to slow at turn five to allow Russell past, only to accelerate into him as he did so. “What the f---” exclaimed a surprised Russell. Many others were of the same opinion," concluded the Telegraph.

"Max Verstappen has worked hard to throw off a reputation for being reckless and indeed dangerous at times on track. Efforts that were left sorely damaged," the Guardian said after Verstappen's collision with Russell.

The medium believed that his conduct "tarnished his standing as both a four-time champion and an enormously accomplished driver", while also saying that this weekend has "potentially cost him the world championship".