"Max Verstappen was very clever how he hit George Russell": David Croft gives his verdict on the Red Bull driver's clash during the F1 Spanish GP

F1 pundit David Croft has claimed that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was "very clever" in the way he hit Mercedes driver George Russell during the 2025 Spanish GP last weekend. The Dutch driver was penalized by the race stewards for ramming into the side of the British driver in the final few laps of the race.

The four-time F1 world champion was running in P3 following the safety car but was passed by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and went wheel-to-wheel with Russell into Turn 1. However, he was furious when he was told to give his P4 to the 27-year-old by the Austrian team on the team radio.

To showcase his frustrations, Max Verstappen "deliberately" rammed into George Russell's W16, for which he was given a 10-second penalty. While appearing on the Sky F1 podcast, David Croft believed that the Red Bull driver was "clever" as he did not turn his car while hitting Russell, saying:

"Max was very clever actually in the way that he hit George. He almost allowed George to hit him by not turning his steering to the left, his steering angle is actually dead straight when they make contact, so the stewards will have looked that as well.

"He's not making, as it were, a deliberate move towards George, but he's not getting out of the way of George, the end result is exactly the same, is he using his car as a weapon, yes. He's putting his car where George is going to hit him, but he's not driving straight into him if that makes sense on that one."

Following his penalty, Max Verstappen was also given a three-point penalty on his FIA Super License, which took him to 11 points, one away from the race ban.

Max Verstappen expresses his feelings after his antics in Spain

Red Bull driver expressed remorse for his actions during the main race in Spain last weekend and admitted that his move on George Russell was "not right."

On his Instagram post after the race, the 27-year-old wrote:

"We had an exciting strategy and a good race in Barcelona till the safety car came out. Our tyre choice at the end and some moves after the safety car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened. I always give everything out there for the team, and emotions can run high. You win some together, you lose some together."

Max Verstappen lost arguably 10 additional points because of his post-race penalty and now sits 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri. With nine races and two Sprints already done in the 2025 season, Verstappen would hope for rapid progression from his Austrian team to keep his title hopes alive.