“You might as well stay home,” F1 pundit blasts Max Verstappen over his altercation with George Russell in Baku

Martin Brundle believes Max Verstappen could have handled the "Baku" incident better.


“You might as well stay home,” F1 pundit blasts Max Verstappen over his altercation with George Russell in Baku

George Russell & Max Verstappen. Images via Eurosport & PlanetF1.

Formula 1 pundit Martin Brundle confessed that he was disappointed by Max Verstappen’s behavior in the Azerbaijan GP. The Red Bull driver and Mercedes’ George Russell made contact at Turn 2 on the first lap of the sprint race. Russell tried to take advantage of an opportunity and pass the championship leader. But things did not go as expected. The contact left Verstappen’s RB19 with a hole in his sidepod. 

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However, Verstappen overtook Russell and finished third. After the race (sprint), the Dutchman confronted his rival in parc ferme. He called the Mercedes driver a “d**khead” in the heat of the moment. Since then, Verstappen has been receiving criticism for the altercation with Russell. Martin Brundle revealed he is a Verstappen fan, but he is disappointed with how the Dutchman handled the situation. 

Brundle stated, “It’s first lap stuff on a very tight track. I think George should have told him to fly away, to be honest. Because I think we’ve seen Max fight really hard like that, Max was on the outside and as a Verstappen fan I was a little bit disappointed with how he handled that really, to be frank.”

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Related: “I will continue racing the same way,” George Russell sheds light on his relationship with Max Verstappen after Baku clash

Martin Brundle claims fans love Max Verstappen because of his racing style

Max Verstappen. Image via Finnoexpert.
Max Verstappen. Image via Finnoexpert.

The Sky Sports F1 pundit added, “And then, [as] part of that, he suggested that George was in a slower car so what’s the point in trying to overtake him in any event? You can’t go racing like that. You might as well stay home.That’s not how Max goes racing and we love him for it.”

However, Brundle justified the incident by saying it was the end of the race and the adrenaline was high. The F1 commentator claimed that Verstappen was fed up as he finished third while his teammate Sergio Perez won the race (sprint).

The 25-year-old was unhappy with the hole in his sidepod. Max Verstappen still leads the championship, he is 6 points ahead of Perez. The Red Bull duo are followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. 

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Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Russell spoke about his clash with Verstappen in Baku. The young Briton claimed that Verstappen had his fair share of hard racing. The Red Bull driver is known for his aggressive racing style. There were several incidents with Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton back in 2021.

Things have changed now as Verstappen has more to lose as his teammate Perez is also challenging him for the title. He cannot afford to make any mistakes if he wants to win his third consecutive Formula 1 championship. 

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