Max Verstappen issues George Russell defence after controversial incident

Max Verstappen has defended George Russell securing pole in Austria despite yellow flags, insisting he "would have tried to do the same".

Verstappen's crash on his final lap of Austrian Grand Prix qualifying has remained a talking point ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix.

The controversy surrounds the fact that only single-waved yellow flags were displayed, rather than double-waved yellows or a red flag.

When a single yellow is shown, a driver only needs to lift in that section, while a double-waved yellow results in a lap deletion. Russell followed the rules at the Red Bull Ring, lifted, but still went on to improve his lap time and clinch pole.

Verstappen has no problem with Russell's pole lap, as the Briton followed the rules, but he does feel a single yellow was not appropriate for the situation.

At Silverstone, Carlos Sainz has proposed a new rule whereby a driver receives a three-place grid penalty should they deliberately cause a yellow or red flag in qualifying, while Verstappen believes any driver who triggers either should see their best lap deleted.

Asked for his thoughts on Sainz's proposed idea, Verstappen told select media, including RacingNews365: "I think when someone does it deliberately, it should be an even bigger penalty than that. 

"But from my side, what happened there was, of course, out of my control. It's a topic that we've been talking about for a long time and, in other series, I think that when you cause a double yellow or a red flag, you lose your [best] lap, for example.

"So, yes, these are things to look at, for sure. But that still doesn't solve what actually happened. Besides that, people are still completing a lap, while others are backing out of it. Now, you can, of course, read the rules very well, complete your lap and be allowed to keep it, but I think, first of all, it should not have been a single yellow. It should at least have been a double yellow or a red flag.

"The driver then, of course, optimises around it, and I think that's fair play. I mean, I probably would have tried to do the same, and that's just how it goes. But it should not even be allowed, or be possible, to finish your lap like that. I think that's my main concern in all of it."