George Russell says that Max Verstappen “let himself down” amid the post-sprint race comments he issued to the Mercedes driver last weekend.
Verstappen took issue with Russell during the sprint race on Saturday after the pair made contact at Turn 2 on the opening lap.
The Dutchman was forced wide as a result of the incident which allowed Russell to pull alongside and complete the overtake at the following corner.
Verstappen’s RB19 car sustained a large hole in the sidepod, but he still managed to move ahead of Russell later in the race and take home third place.
After the chequered flag, Verstappen approached Russell to discuss the situation, and was heard labelling the Mercedes driver a “dickhead” in the heated debate.
When asked if he wants an apology from Verstappen, Russell replied: “No, not really. I don’t need an apology at all,” he said, as quoted by The Race.
However, he admits that he wasn’t pleased to see Verstappen act in such manner in the heat of the moment.
“He’s a two-time champion, leading the championship again at the moment,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me, but he probably lets himself down a little bit with those sort of comments.
“Max is a super good guy, great-great driver, just words like that are a bit unnecessary.”
Russell also expressed surprise over what the live broadcast showed on the world feed, having not seen the images when he had his discussion with the Red Bull driver.
“To be honest I was a bit underwhelmed how little everything was, I was expecting it to be more,” he said.
“Obviously, there was a bit of contact, as there often is up and down the grid on lap one, so yeah, I was expecting a bit more.”
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