Watch: Max Verstappen seemingly rams into the side of George Russell during the F1 Spanish GP

Max Verstappen and George Russell had a controversial incident towards the end of the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix. At the safety car restart, the four-time world champion was told to let Russell pass by, but the former instead touched him again on turn 5, inviting a 10-second time penalty.

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli drove into the gravel in the second half of the race, triggering a safety car. When the race resumed on lap 61, Verstappen appeared to be all over the place. He had contact with Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

Though he couldn't beat Leclerc, Verstappen went off the track and rejoined at P4, ahead of Russell. Moreover, on team radio, the Dutchman complained that Russell had rammed him off the track.

However, fearing an investigation for unfair advantage, Red Bull asked the Dutch driver to give the position back. But Max Verstappen defied the orders and touched Russell again at turn 5 of lap 64. The video of the incident was shared on X by the account @BlackBoxF1.

The move was deemed unnecessary, intentional, and aggressive by critics, including Nico Rosberg. Moreover, FIA stewards quickly dished out a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision, which dropped the Red Bull driver to P10.

Earlier in the race, Verstappen was placed on a three-stop strategy. However, the safety car led to another cheap pitstop at lap 56. But by then, the Dutchman had used his soft tire compound, and Red Bull pushed him out on hard tires while his immediate rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris went with a softer compound.

Despite this, Verstappen could have finished in the top five had the collision with George Russell been avoided. This will likely erupt into a full-blown controversy, as many fans and critics believe the crash was intentional from Verstappen's side.

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Nico Rosberg slams Max Verstappen for collision with George Russell in Spain

Max Verstappen at F1 Grand Prix of Spain - Source: Getty

Meanwhile, Sky Sports commentator and former world champion Nico Rosberg blamed Max Verstappen for the collision with George Russell in the final moments of the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix.

He opined that Red Bull's team order triggered him since he believed he wasn't at fault while overtaking Russell at the safety car restart. On Sky Sports, he said:

"The first one was George's fault because he went in too hot, oversteered out and tapped Max who then had to use the escape road. That's not the way to do the pass. Red Bull messed up by saying let George pass. That really annoyed Max because he knows George rammed him off."

"In Max's eyes he's like 100 per cent in the right 'why are you telling me to do this, watch this I will show you what he did', slowed down and rammed into him which is even worse. To slow down and ram into another driver is pretty bad."

Meanwhile, the time penalty cost Max Verstappen almost five positions as he dropped to P10. This could negatively hamper his position in championship standings.