Verstappen admits he will not apologise to Russell after Barcelona incident

After a late safety car restart, Russell looked for a move up the inside of turn 1, Verstappen went off track, rejoining ahead of the Brit, resulting in the Dutchman being told to give the position back to the Mercedes driver.

The two drivers, who have come to blows before on and off track, then came together at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Verstappen swerving into the Brit when it looked like he was handing the place back, giving him a ten-second penalty and dropping him down to P10.

Verstappen was initially asked whether he would speak to Russell about the incident: “No, not necessarily,” the Red Bull Racing driver responded in the presence of GPblog in the paddock in Barcelona. “I think you shouldn’t have too many regrets in life. You only live once.”

Verstappen also came into contact with Charles Leclerc during the incident-filled safety car restart, with Leclerc moving over and tapping the Dutchman down the straight after Verstappen almost slid into the wall when the safety car went into the pits.

The Red Bull Racing driver was also asked if he would talk to the Monégasque, not giving a direct answer, but he did say: “Yeah. Honestly, I don't know what happened there. It was really odd because he was already. Basically, the move was almost done, and suddenly he moved left, which could have been a big one.

"I thought I was going to have a puncture, you know, because with the floor, you can cut the tyre a bit. It was just really weird. I don't know what happened,” concluded Verstappen.