George Russell accuses Max Verstappen of deliberate…

George Russell has accused Max Verstappen of deliberately crashing into him during the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix and claimed the move was “totally unnecessary”.

Drama escalated in Barcelona after the lap 61 safety car restart, as third-placed Verstappen was immediately put under pressure from behind following a slide out of the final corner.

Charles Leclerc first overtook him down the start-finish straight but banged wheels with Verstappen in the process, irking the four-time champion who said the Ferrari driver needed penalising.

Russell next pressurised Verstappen having gone down the inside of Turn 1, but the Red Bull driver stayed ahead after being forced to use the escape road.

Three laps later though, Red Bull told Verstappen to hand Russell fourth place and the even angrier Dutchman, who disagreed with the order, slowed down into Turn 5 before speeding up again and into the Mercedes.

Verstappen eventually let Russell overtake but still received a 10s penalty which dropped him from fifth to 10th and the Briton said “it felt very deliberate”.

“It's something that I've seen numerous times in sim racing and on iRacing. Never have I seen it in a Formula 1 race,” Russell, who finished fourth, added.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes (Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images)

“So that was something new. It's a bit of a shame. Max is clearly one of the best drivers in the world, but manoeuvres like that are just totally unnecessary and sort of lets him down.

“It's a shame for all the young kids looking up and aspiring to be Formula 1 drivers. So, as I said, I don't know what he was thinking. In the end I'm not going to lose sleep over it because I also benefited from those antics.”

Russell believes questions need to be asked if stewards reckon Verstappen truly meant it because you “cannot deliberately crash into another driver”.

“We've put our lives on the line,” he said. “We're fortunate the cars are as safe as they are these days. We shouldn't take it for granted.

“As I said, it's down to the stewards to determine if it's deliberate or not. If they do think it's deliberate, then they need to have a hard question.”

Russell was left bewildered by the move given the Mercedes driver finished within a second of third-placed Leclerc - so Verstappen could have easily fought back despite the late switch to hard rubber while others were on softs.

“It just seemed all very strange and bizarre and set off,” Russell said. “It doesn't really make sense to deliberately crash into somebody and risk damaging your own car, risk a penalty.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes (Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images)

“He could have come back for fighting for podium. Charles really dropped off at the end, pushing both soft tyres too hard.

“Obviously, he was probably frustrated being on the hard tyres. Lost out at the beginning, but it was still five laps to go. I'm not going to lose sleep over it.”

It means Verstappen is now 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, who won the Spanish GP in a McLaren 1-2 ahead of Lando Norris.