Russell: No need to clear air with Verstappen despite Baku bust-up

Russell and Verstappen came to blows while battling over third place on the opening lap of the Baku sprint race, with the contact causing a hole in the Red Bull sidepod. 

Verstappen was left furious with Russell and branded the Mercedes driver a “d***head”, before later referring to him as ‘Princess George’. Russell responded by saying the two-time world champion had “let himself down” with his reaction. 

Despite their post-race war of words, Russell stressed he won’t change his approach and said there is no bad blood from his side. 

“I’ll continue racing the same way as I always would,” Russell said ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. 

“A lot has been said about that coming together but from my side, it was pretty straightforward. I went for a move, got the move done. 

“Obviously he was pretty upset about it but that’s racing and these things happen. We’re all here to fight and that’s what F1 is about.”

Asked if he has spoken to Verstappen since the accident to clear the air, Russell replied: “No. Again, from my side, there’s no air to be cleared. 

“I’ll say hello to him if he passes by and I’m sure we’ll shake hands when we bump into each other. 

“But for me, it’s history now and it’s behind us. My view of him is still the same. I still respect him and think he’s a great driver. 

“Obviously things are always said in the heat of the moment, but we move on.”

Verstappen was also asked about his relationship with Russell and joked: “Terrible! No of course not. It’s absolutely fine.” 

After taking fourth in the sprint, Russell went on to finish eighth in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, two places behind Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. 

Reflecting on Mercedes’ weekend in Baku, Russell said: “It’s fine margins. We missed out on Q3 by four milliseconds. 

“It would have been a totally different story had we got into Q3. I probably could have qualified inside the top six.

“Clearly our car isn’t quick enough and we need to continue to do a better job. We’ll go again this weekend. 

“Hopefully it’ll be a slightly smoother weekend and we can battle it out with Aston and Ferrari.”