Max Verstappen was involved in a heated exchange after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Sprint race with George Russell, after the pair made contact on the opening lap of the race. The Mercedes driver got a better launch off the line at the start which put him alongside Verstappen into Turn 1 fighting for P3. This continued into Turn 3, with Verstappen on the outside and Russell taking to the inside line of the tight corner. As the Red Bull driver turned in, it the pair to collided and significant damage was made to Verstappen's sidepod. After some irate words with his engineer over the contact, Verstappen managed to pull off an overtake into Turn 1 after the Safety Car restart and retake the position. The pair met in Parc Ferme post-race, where Verstappen pulled up Russell on the contact and the pair had a heated exchange: Russell: "I had no grip." Verstappen: "Mate, we all have no grip. We all need to give a little bit of space." Russell: "I know, I know. Watch the onboard [camera]" Verstappen: "Yeah, sure. But expect it next time the same, you know. D******d." The contact likely cost Verstappen time on the straights, preventing him from challenging Charles Leclerc for P2 at the end of the race.
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