Max Verstappen has described getting “mad” during the Spanish Grand Prix, resulting in a collision with Mercedes driver George Russell, as the one part of an otherwise strong 2025 Formula 1 season that he got wrong.
In an exclusive interview with Viaplay Netherlands, conducted by ex-F1 driver Giedo van der Garde, Verstappen described what he effectively characterises as a red-mist moment as the only point of criticism he has for his own performance. This was caused by a series of on-track setbacks that led to a penalty for hitting Russell.
“I am happy with my season,” Verstappen told Viaplay. “The only point of criticism is the situation in Barcelona.
“What happened there, of course, wasn’t great, but it also came from the fact that I really care. I could also have said ‘my car isn’t fast, I’ll let it go’.”
This refers to the safety-car restart late in the race where he was frustrated to be forced to take hard tyres when he made a pitstop, then made an error at the last corner that allowed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc to pass him.
Leclerc also moved across on him on the straight and caused a banging of wheels, before Russell attacked at Turn 1. Verstappen took to the run-off, but was told to give the position back.
He lifted on the downhill run from Turn 4 to Turn 5, but as soon as Russell got ahead, Verstappen launched an attack on the inside of Turn 5. He clouted the left side of Russell’s car, and was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision. This dropped him from fifth on-the-road at the chequered flag to ninth in the final classification.
“It's in part the fact that I cannot accept from myself, when I get out of the car, that I haven’t done everything and given everything,” said Verstappen. “That makes me mad at myself.
“I cannot put in 80% effort. I have to get out of the car with the feeling I’ve tried everything.
"I was mad about what happened on the straight during the restart, then corner one and then I get the radio message that I have to give back the position. At that moment all the signs went red.
“That was not good, and you learn from that. And moments like those probably won’t happen again. You can be in a similar situation with the car but it is something that you learn from.
"But performance-wise, I am happy. Especially in qualifying I am pleased with myself. And that was maybe, at the beginning of my career, one of my weaker sides.”
It is an unusual admission from Verstappen, albeit one that reflects what clearly happened at the time.
However, one of Verstappen’s often-unseen strengths is that while he tends either to baulk at critical questions or, more often, shrug them off and not engage, he does reflect on what he’s done right and wrong.
In Spain, it was clear he had boiled over thanks to the race going wrong and while he hasn’t actually said whether the contact was deliberate or, as I called it at the time, anger leading to him badly misjudging a needless point-making on-track move, what matters is what it tells us about Verstappen.
His main weakness - realistically probably his only weakness - is that there are occasions when he can get into this kind of state if too much goes against him.
More on Verstappen's Spain debacle
Our verdict on Verstappen's hugely controversial Russell clash
Russell: Verstappen crash 'felt deliberate', antics let him down
Verstappen concedes Russell clash shouldn't have happened
His driving in Hungary in 2024 and eventual incident with Lewis Hamilton there is another example of this, and while such instances are rare it’s the one chink in the armour of a driver who is already established as one of the all-time greats.
He’s only going to get better at controlling that, and the fact he’s comfortable talking about it publicly proves that it’s something he’s well aware of. You don’t become as remarkable a driver as Verstappen is without frank self-improvement, and this is a rare glimpse of the honesty he has with himself that doesn’t always show in public on race weekends.
Although Verstappen has had other difficult weekends this year, notably at Silverstone where the wet conditions on race day played against his trimmed-out rear-wing set-up and he spun at a restart on his way to fifth, and toiling to ninth at the Hungaroring, he is certain that he has managed to get the most out of the often-troublesome Red Bull RB21 most of the time.
“You always have to look at where you’ve left stuff on the table,” said Verstappen.
“Could I have been more consistent or better? I think with the material that I had, I have on average maximised the potential. That is positive.
"From the outside, it is very difficult to assess how competitive the car really is.”
