Surprising praise for Verstappen from Sky Sports after Russell moment

The collision between the two drivers in the final few laps of the Grand Prix in Barcelona altered the whole race, with Verstappen swerving into Russell after being told to let the Brit by after rejoining the track ahead.

That action from Verstappen resulted in him getting a ten-second time penalty, dropping him down from P5 to P10 on the grid, along with three penalty points.

However, on the Monday after the race, Verstappen apologised on Instagram for the incident with Russell, leaving Croft to be impressed with the growth in character from the 27-year-old

"I think that is the first time ever," states the F1 commentator on the Dutchman's apology while involved in the Sky Sports F1 podcast, The F1 Show.

"I think it'll actually take the sting out of what could have escalated. I think the sting would have been taken out of it a bit," Croft believes.

The commentator was happy to see Verstappen come out and apologise for the incident, highlighting a change in his character that may not have been seen a few years ago.

"The thing is, Max is a character who wears his heart on his sleeve in this sort of way. He gets very headstrong if things aren't going his way. I don't want that to be his legacy in Formula 1," continued Croft.

"But this is the most mature we've seen Max after an incident like this, and that I think is to his credit," concluded the Brit.