Max Verstappen has now admitted that his crash with George Russell in Formula 1's Spanish Grand Prix was "not right and shouldn't have happened".
The reigning world champion was handed a 10-second penalty for his part in a collision with Russell at Turn 5 in the closing stages of Sunday's Barcelona race as they battled for fourth.
Having been told by his Red Bull team to give up a place to Russell amid an FIA stewards' investigation into an earlier Turn 1 incident between them at a late safety car restart, Verstappen duly slowed for his rival - before then accelerating and running into the side of him.
Russell later suggested that he felt like Verstappen's actions had been deliberate, and that such driving was setting a bad example to "young kids looking up aspiring to be Formula 1 drivers".
But as Verstappen remained defiant over his actions, he issued a firm response to Russell's remark and said: "OK, well, I'll bring some tissues next time."
On Sunday night Verstappen only went as far as suggesting his actions had been a "misjudgement", but on Monday he appeared to be slightly more contrite.
In a post on Instagram, Verstappen suggested that his frustrations had boiled over about how his race had fallen apart with the deployment of a late-race safety car, as he was left exposed on hard tyres.
"We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, till the safety car came out," he wrote.
"Our tyre choice to the end and some moves after the safety car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn't have happened.
"I always give everything out there for the team and emotions can run high. You win some together, you lose some together. See you in Montreal."
Red Bull's in-race dilemma
Red Bull found out after the Spanish GP that Verstappen did not actually need to give up the place to Russell at all, as the FIA deemed that Verstappen had been unfairly forced off the track in taking to the run-off at Turn 1 on the restart.
Team principal Christian Horner explained that Red Bull had elected to play it safe and drop behind Russell for fear of earning a penalty, and because it had no way of knowing if it was in the right or wrong over what happened at Turn 1.
"On recent experience and looking at recent incidents, it's subjective," he said. "You've asked for guidance from the FIA, from the referee essentially, and there's nothing come back.
"You can see that it's been reported, it's going to the stewards. It looked for all intents and purposes that it was going to be a penalty, so therefore the instruction was given to Max to give that place back.
"He was obviously upset and annoyed about it because he felt that one, he'd been left no space and two, that George hadn't been fully in control. So after obviously a conversation with his engineer, he elected to give the space back at Turn 5."
Verstappen's clash with Russell also earned him three penalty points on his licence, which now leaves him just one point away from a race ban.
And, with no points coming off his licence until the Monday after the Austrian GP at the end of June, it means Verstappen cannot afford to fall foul of any indiscretions in the next two races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada and the Red Bull Ring.
Speaking about the prospect of there being no problems, Horner said: "You can never guarantee anything. He's just got to keep his nose clean the next couple of races then the first points come off at the end of June."
