Nico Rosberg Declares Max Verstappen ‘Intentionally Retaliated’ Against George Russell After Spanish GP Clash

Former F1 champion Nico Rosberg accused Max Verstappen of purposely trying to crash into George Russell during the Spanish GP.

Nico Rosberg Declares Max Verstappen ‘Intentionally Retaliated’ Against George Russell After Spanish GP Clash

Max Verstappen (via IMAGO), Nico Rosberg (via GP33), and George Russell (via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen‘s 2025 campaign is only going from bad to worse. After a dismal race in Monaco, the Dutchman hoped for a strong race at the Spanish GP. However, Verstappen faced multiple issues on Sunday. Ultimately he clashed with George Russell, hampering his prospects. Now, former F1 champion Nico Rosberg has hinted that the Dutch driver collided with Russell on purpose.

During the Safety Car restart in the ending stages of the race, Max Verstappen was on a set of hard tires. The Red Bull star struggled for grip and lost a position to Charles Leclerc. Moreover, even George Russell tried his luck in overtaking the reigning world champion. Verstappen was initially pushed off-track. Though, the two drivers collided when the 27-year-old was asked to give back the position to the Mercedes driver.

Nico Rosberg reckoned that the collision during the position exchange seemed to be planned by Max Verstappen as a moment of ‘intentional retaliation.’ The German insisted that the Red Bull star slowed down patiently till he was alongside Russell, before slamming the car similarly to how the two had made contact at the restart.

It looked like a very intentional retaliation. Wait for the opponent, go ramming into him, just like you felt the other guy rammed into you at Turn 1.

Nico Rosberg said on F1 TV

Russell and Verstappen are no strangers to conflict. The two were indulged in a massive war of words last year, with the Dutchman even calling George Russell ‘two-faced’ over a stewards room discussion at the Qatar GP.

The reigning world champion was handed a ten-second penalty by race control, pushing him down to tenth place. This is a major blow to Verstappen’s title prospects as he is already struggling to match championship leader Oscar Piastri.

Nico Rosberg wants Max Verstappen disqualified from Spanish GP

Collisions in Formula 1 are not uncommon. Drivers are prone to make contact when driving wheel-to-wheel at over 200 miles an hour. Yet, it is not correct for anyone to purposely cause an incident as a potential act of revenge. Rosberg asserted that Verstappen should pay the price for this collision.

Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

The 2016 F1 world champion made it clear that the pinnacle of motorsport cannot witness such an incident. He declared that as per the rules, Max Verstappen should’ve received the black flag and get disqualified from the race entirely. Nico Rosberg pointed out that it was not only wrong, but also dangerous to see a driver wait for their opponent on purpose, just to cause chaos.

That’s something which is extremely unacceptable and I think the rules would be a black flag yes. If you wait for your opponent to bang into him, that’s a black flag.

Nico Rosberg added

Though, it is unclear whether Max Verstappen did intentionally collide with George Russell, the Dutchman is to blame for the clash. The reigning world champion might need a wake-up call over the situation and understand that aggression does not always bring in results. The incident will remain the talk of the paddock for the coming weeks, as many see this as another big error made by the Red Bull star.

Read More: “Gave It Our Best Shot,” Lando Norris Accepts Defeat to Oscar Piastri in Hard-Fought Spanish GP