F1 Veteran Dumps Blame on Max Verstappen as “Lost” George Russell Absolved for Instinctive Drive

“Today was another example of a Grand Prix where we’ve had good pace and not got the result that pace has deserved,” said Toto Wolff after the Las Vegas GP. Mercedes had an eventful weekend in Vegas, to say the least. After a shocker in Brazil, the W14 looked much better in the streets of Sin City, so much so that a podium for George Russell was in the cards. But an incident with Max Verstappen midway through the race ensured Mercedes didn’t get the weekend it wanted. But who was at fault—Russell or Verstappen?

The Las Vegas Street Circuit was new to everyone. Considering that, no one really knew the potential overtaking spots until the lights went out and they started racing. But when have non-overtaking opportunities ever stopped Max Verstappen from going for an overtake anyway? That’s precisely what landed the blame on the Dutchman.

Max Verstappen made a “mistake” at the Las Vegas GP

For someone who has won 18 races this season and has only once finished outside the podium places those other times, it’s safe to say Max Verstappen doesn’t make many mistakes. But sometimes, even he’s not immune to them, and his move on George Russell in Vegas was one, per F1 veteran Peter Windsor. Fighting for P4, Verstappen had a great run into Turn 12—the left-hander entry into the Strip. He was side-by-side going into the corner, but Russell on the outside turned in on Verstappen. They both had damage, but Russell came off worse.

Peter Windsor addressed the incident in his post-race debrief. He said, “I think Max made a mistake in passing George—very nice pass, going into a chicane where normally you wouldn’t see a pass taking place. I think he just misread George Russell. Because if you don’t make it absolutely clear with George that he’s basically lost and he’s got to give up the position, he’s always going to be there. He’s always going to fight back. That’s exactly what happened.” Russell isn’t one to back down. We saw it in Vegas between them, and we saw it during the Sprint in Azerbaijan. 

Windsor then explained what must’ve been going through the Brit’s head. “[Verstappen] had the pass on George, no doubt about that. But either George was just never going to give up on that specific corner, or maybe he just never thought Max was going to be there. But George just stayed there, and they touched,” added Windsor. 

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While Windsor believes Max Verstappen made a mistake, George Russell has something else to say.

Verstappen made a fair move, and it was Russell’s fault

It’s not common to see Verstappen fighting for anything other than P1 in 2023, if at all that. So what was he doing in P5? He started the race in P2 but overtook Charles Leclerc into Turn 1 by pushing the Monegasque out of the track. He got a five-second penalty for it. After serving it, he was chasing the win again. That’s when the incident with Russell happened. While it seemed to most that Verstappen’s move was a little optimistic, the FIA gave Russell a five-second penalty. Instead of finishing on the podium, the Brit finished in P8.

After the race, he was understandably disappointed. He said, [We were] on course for an easy P3, to be honest. And then, the incident with Max [was] totally my fault, didn’t see him at all going through Turn 12. You sort of have a blind spot, and it’s not really an overtaking opportunity. So I wasn’t even looking in the mirrors. And even if he made the overtake, I’d have just passed him straight back. So, I was a bit surprised that the overtake was attempted there, but totally my fault.”

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What were your thoughts on the collision? Was Max Verstappen at fault or George Russell?