Max Verstappen lifts the lid on his mentality that led to the F1 Spanish blowout with George Russell

Max Verstappen has revealed that it is his tendency to give 100% every time he races, which led to his moment with George Russell in Barcelona this season. In that race, the Dutch driver has put together a supreme stint to keep himself in contention for the race win.

Unfortunately, the late race safety car left him exposed to the chasing pack. After losing position to Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen was told on the radio to cede position to George Russell as well.

Furious at the call, the Dutch driver seemingly first gave up the position and then hit the side of the Mercedes of the British driver. The driver would be handed a penalty at the point for causing a collision, but would escape a race ban as he got precariously close to the dreaded 12-point threshold.

Talking to Motorsport and looking back at his 2025 F1 season, Max Verstappen felt that the one moment where he felt he let himself down was Barcelona. Talking about how he just cannot have a mindset of going at 80% in a race and how that led to the incident, he said,

The only point of criticism is obviously Barcelona. That move itself - and the entire incident - was not good, but that’s also because I care a lot. I could have thought, ‘this car isn’t working anyway, so I let it go.’I can’t accept - towards myself - stepping out of the car and knowing that I didn’t give everything. Then I get angry with myself, so I can’t drive at 80%.”

Talking about the incident, he added,

“When I get out of the car, I always need to be able to tell to myself, ‘I did everything I could.’ That’s why I was so angry in Barcelona - first with what happened on the straight at the restart, then into Turn 1, and then of course when I was told to give the position back. That’s when all signs went red.”

Max Verstappen doesn't expect to make the same mistake again

Looking back, Max Verstappen revealed that this was something he learned from as well and didn't expect to do such a thing again. Talking about how the next time he would be more prepared on how to deal with it, he said,

“That was a mistake from my side, and of course I learn from it. Those moments won’t happen again next year, even if we’re in a similar situation with the car. These are the small things you learn from, but overall, in terms of performance, the season was absolutely good.”

Max Verstappen's chances for the fifth world championship seem more or less over by now. The Dutch driver is 49 points behind Lando Norris, and with just three races left, that gap is certainly not coming down.

Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli