Red Bull Admits Max Verstappen Was Lucky To Not DNF After Russell Contact

The damage to Max's Red Bull could have been a lot worse.

Red Bull has confirmed that the damage sustained by Max Verstappen during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Sprint race was "massive," as Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan explained, with Max lucky to not DNF after the contact.

The Dutchman's collision with George Russell on the first lap of the race resulted in a significant hole in Verstappen's left sidepod, causing him to lose valuable time and positions on the track, but according to the engineer, it could have been much worse. 

Verstappen was visibly frustrated after the race and had a heated argument with Russell, calling him a "d***head" for the reckless move. This was met with a mixed response from pundits and fans alike, with this argument becoming a hot topic this weekend. 

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Monaghan confirmed that the aerodynamic loss caused by the damage was "massive," giving a reason for Max's apparent lack of pace during the Azerbaijan sprint race. Red Bull team chief Christian Horner admitted that it could have been up to 3-quarters of a second he was losing per lap.

"In terms of the aerodynamic loss, massive," Monaghan told the media. "It's difficult to know precisely because we don't put the car in the wind tunnel like that, but lap time was notable."

Despite the substantial damage, Verstappen was lucky to avoid any terminal balance problems from the collision, as Monaghan explained. 

"Fortunately he [Russell] missed the radiator just underneath the ancillaries, so we didn't get punted out [of the race]." he continued.

"We estimate the balance shift from it, but it's also a load loss near the middle of the car.

"We didn't have a terminal oversteer or understeer [problem]. But the load loss was was notable, very obvious. So we'll fix it for today and go again."

The Red Bull will be ready for the Grand Prix today, but with Russell so far back after qualifying in P11, it's unlikely the two drivers will share any more heated duels this weekend.