Red Bull Chief Hints That Max Verstappen Could Have Punched George Russell

In a dramatic turn of events during the sprint race at the Baku Circuit of Azerbaijan, George Russell and Max Verstappen collided on the first lap, resulting in

In a dramatic turn of events during the sprint race at the Baku Circuit of Azerbaijan, George Russell and Max Verstappen collided on the first lap, resulting in significant damage to Dutchman's car. 

The collision left the sidepod of the World Champion's car severely damaged, with Christian Horner, his team boss, alluding to Max potentially lashing out at Russell during their heated conversation after the race.

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As one of the most vocal supporters of his star driver, Horner was quick to defend Verstappen's reaction to the incident. 

"He was understandably annoyed with that," Horner said, "And voiced his opinion to George." 

Horner went on to explain that Verstappen's competitive spirit was to be expected in such situations, but hinted that Verstappen could have physically lashed out at the Brit. 

"It was probably good that he [George] left his crash helmet," Horner joked. "You can understand that. He is a competitive driver, and when you get damage to your car, you will be disappointed."

Horner also acknowledged that the collision was a result of hard racing between two equally determined drivers. 

"Turn 1, I can live with," he said, "Turn 2 is hard racing between hard racers. George runs him out wide (at turn 3)," he ended.

The race weekend continues tomorrow with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix taking precedence. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start on pole, but from today's performance from Red Bull, it doesn't look as though the Monegasque driver will be able to hold them off for too long thanks to their strong DRS.