david croft f1 commentator 662f8421dddbc

Should Verstappen have been disqualified? David Croft issues verdict on controversial clash with Russell

19:20, 02 Jun

Updated: 20:31, 02 Jun

byTobia Elia

David Croft couldn’t refrain from commenting on the hot topic of the Spanish Grand Prix — the controversial collision between Max Verstappen and George Russell in the closing stages of the race

More than 24 hours have passed since the end of the Spanish Grand Prix — a race that saw Oscar Piastri claim yet another victory ahead of teammate Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc — and yet the only real talking point remains the controversial clash between Max Verstappen and George Russell.

Many within the paddock have already weighed in on the incident — including Nico Rosberg, who went as far as to say that the four-time world champion should have been disqualified for the move on the Mercedes driver.

Speaking on the matter to Sky Sports, David Croft — the iconic voice of Formula 1 in the UK — also shared his thoughts on what happened on track yesterday afternoon: ''The first angle we saw, it didn't look quite as bad as the overhead helicam shot that we saw where he clearly does drive into into George Russell. And it clearly was a deliberate move. And I don't think Max Verstappen would have come out with a statement today if it wasn't a deliberate move."

"I'm glad to see that he has come out with that statement as well and that he is showing some remorse''.

Speaking about the incident itself, Croft added: ''That move there to the right. I think that gives the game away on that one. Christian Horner didn't really say much about it after the race yesterday. I suppose he felt at the time he couldn't defend the indefensible. Max, in the heat of the moment, with the adrenaline still coursing or cursing through his veins, didn't want to apologise, didn't want to admit that it was a mistake and a misjudgment, but taking time to reflect on it overnight.''

''He's a much more calm man about the situation. And I think this is Max saying, 'look, I regret what happened', without saying, I regret what happened, and without using the word sorry. It is an apology. I hope we can draw a line under it to a certain extent as well, because these are not the sort of incidents I want to see define Max Verstappen's career, because he is way, way better than this sort of incident''.

Croft disagrees with Rosberg

Commenting on whether the Dutchman might have deserved a disqualification, the British journalist concluded by saying: ''Nico was saying 'that's a black flag, that's a black flag.' And I totally get where Nico was coming from on that one. And I'm sure there were plenty of people watching live on Sky Sports F1 saying very much the same thing. But whilst a 10 second time penalty might not seem a lot, that might seem like a bit of a slap on the wrist in giving that 10 second time penalty.''

''The stewards demoted Max to 10th place. So he picked up just one point and that big loss of points, I think is the appropriate punishment for that I think it was the right penalty. You could have done a 10-second stop-go penalty, which would translate to 30 seconds on your race time''.

''You'd have finished completely out of the points. Maybe that could have been a penalty they chose as well. But not necessarily a black flag, although I can understand people calling for that. I'm not one for massively harsh penalties like that, but enough to make Max think twice''.