‘Is this f**king guy blind?’ Verstappen rages after Stroll F1 practice clash

Max Verstappen was left fuming following his collision with Lance Stroll during second practice for Formula 1’s Portuguese Grand Prix.

Verstappen was attempting to overtake Stroll to gain track position having picked up a tow from the Racing Point along the pit straight, but the pair came together at Turn 1 as Verstappen took the inside of the corner.

The contact sent Stroll spearing off into the gravel and resulted in the session being red-flagged for a second time.

Verstappen had been forced to abandon a previous timed-lap and had let Stroll overtake him at the final corner as both drivers crossed the line to start a new flying effort in the closing stages of FP2.

Immediately after the incident - which is under investigation - a furious Verstappen fumed over team radio: “Mate is this f**king guy blind? What the f**k is wrong with him. What a r*****.”

Tempers flare as Stroll and Verstappen collide at Turn 1 #PortugueseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/9xhTKe43dp

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 23, 2020

Speaking about the incident after the session, the Dutchman added: “To be honest I don’t want to talk about it too much as I was so surprised that he just turned in while I was coming up to him.

“I don’t know where else to go. I was starting my lap and he just finished his lap, we’ll see what happens. It’s FP2 but it’s a shame that we touched, it was just unnecessary.”

Asked whether he could have backed out at Turn 1, Verstappen replied: “Could he have backed out of it yeah? It’s always a discussion and we can go on forever but it’s just silly.”

Verstappen added it was “not my problem” if people took offence to the words he used over team radio during his expletive-ridden tirade.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner felt Stroll should have given Verstappen more room at Turn 1.

“You’ve got to go back to the previous lap,” he explained to Sky Sports. “Lance has gone into the last corner and Max has let him go because he wants to get the tow.

“He’s assuming that Lance is finishing a lap and he’s not aware that Lance is going for a second lap, so he’s let him past and he’s tucked up behind him.

“He’s taken the advantage of the tow, pulled up alongside him, and assumed he’s going to back out of it because he knows he’s up the inside.

“Obviously Lance, for whatever reason hasn’t seen him, and he’s committed to the corner and turned in. Both of them were probably expecting the other to back off.

“If that were a race, Max would have been deemed to be up the inside, therefore the car on the outside should have given way.”