Montmelo, Spain - Max Verstappen's old nickname when he was young: Mad Max. The ancient character raised his head again at the end of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

Verstappen's talent early in the game outside Barcelona was asked by his Red Bulls to return the position of Mercedes' George Russell to Mercedes's George Russell, which seemed like a moment of anger. From the fourth round, the defending world champion slowed down, leaving Russell outside, just speeded up, and drove into the side of the opponent's car.

In the cooling room of Formula One, the first three racers reacted to the highlights of the race for the first time before them, and the shared feeling was obvious.

"Oh my goodness," Charles Leclerc, third, breathed, unfolded as a clip of the Verstappen incident. Champion leader and competition champion Oscar Piastri said simply: "yikes". Runner-up Lando Norris quipped that he had done it before, despite being "on Mario Kart".

To many in the paddock it looked intentional, and at that moment the red mist landed on Verstappen and peaked in a ridiculous moment decision. Did Verstappen really do it on purpose after Sky Sports F1's Rachel Brookes compete, perhaps - given his position as a four-time world champion - a disappointing response: "Does this matter?"

Many people will argue that doing so. There is no doubt that the person who took the side ropes away was the Dutch's true intention.

"To be honest, it feels very intentional," Russell said Sunday night. "It's a little shameful because Max is obviously one of the best riders in the world, but such an action is totally unnecessary and a bit disappointing him. It's a shame for all the young kids looking up to, a desire to be a Formula One driver."

He was one of the only ones to downplay what happened Sunday night. Former world champion Nico Rosberg, who said on Sky Sports F1, was one of the most outspoken people, saying that Vestapen's move should have been a stupid selection qualification.

"It seems like a very intentional revenge," the 2016 champion said. "Waiting for an opponent, hitting him, just like you think another person hits you in round 1. It's extremely unacceptable, I think the rule will be the black flag, yes. If you wait for an opponent to hit him, it's the black flag."

Instead, Verstappen was fined 10 seconds, which allowed him to push the order to the tenth position at the finish line and earned 3 penalty points on his giant. Now, he is only one point away from the full-time game. This means he has to play clean in the upcoming matches in Canada and Austria before rolling for another 12 months of points down again.

The intentional act of other drivers has covered the legacy of the two former world champions. Ayrton Senna won the 1990 world championship, the Ferrari of Alain Prost of the Japanese Grand Prix, while Michael Schumacher won a title in 1994 and collided with Williams drivers Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.

At least Senna and Schumacher may claim their worst moments are when the championship comes on. Verstappen's fourth place.

Just like it has been happening again and again in his legendary career, Verstappen's racing craft will be a major topic at the Canadian Grand Prix. When his comments on Russell's moves were a model for children watching F1, his answer to Sky Sports' questions and sarcastic responses - "I'll bring some tissues next time" - gave an in-depth look at how he would focus on the competition craft.

Most people who watch F1 lately have been blessed with numerous examples of how good they are in racing. His amazing victory in Brazil last year was probably one of the best performances of this modern era. His pole circle in Suzuki this season has been called one of the best Formula 1 cars of all time. His amazing pass against Piastri two weeks ago was the lead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, which would be a great pass ever. These are fair praises.

The dark part of his race ship was equally fair.

Many of the great work Verstappen has done in recent seasons is to strengthen its legacy, as one of the sport's greatest talents has been damaged in a bland moment on Sunday. Of all, it is Russell - a vocal critic of Verstappen's past - best summarizing the frustration of watching the beautiful but delicious four-time world champion.

"Max is an amazing driver, and a lot of people look up to him, it's really shameful that things keep going on," said the Mercedes driver. "It's totally unnecessary and never seems to have benefited."

Russell mentioned Verstappen's duality, which included his various flash points with Norris last year, and his amazing moves at Imola leading Piastri two weeks ago.

“Last year, you saw some of the best moves in Austin and then you went to Mexico and he let himself down.

Boiling point

Verstappen's frustration has quietly been established for some time before he clashes with Russell. The FIA ​​report explains that his 10-second fine is not much comfort.

Based on previous events this season, Red Bull believed that the housekeeper would order Verstappen to return the place to Russell, so the team preemptively asked its main driver to do so. The FIA ​​statement pointed out that the housekeeper had no intention of making such a ruling. On Sunday night, Red Bull was confused about it, and frustratingly, Verstappen's boiling displeasure when it was completely avoidable.

The FIA's admission fee will rub the salt for Red Bull in the wound, and his call to place Verstappen on the hard tires at the end, which left him sitting on the duck for Leclerc and Russell (switch to Softs -Softs) to start attacking him again and add a series of events to the expensive Flashpoint. Verstappen saw Red Bull sworn in at the last stop. Thanks to a three-stop strategy, the team promised to play with the first car early in the game, and that's everything he left behind in the distribution.

Red Bull feels fresh studs better than staying outside, inheriting lead and fighting a rechargeable car at the back with a tire disadvantage. Neither option is ideal in this case, but in Verstappen defending the lead in a slightly older soft poem, defending third place in third on the new software, Red Bull picked the more difficult situation in both – especially after only six laps after restarting.

"The McLaren will pass him," Red Bulls principal Christian Horner insisted on Sunday, "maybe true, but in Formula 1, Verstappen is known for shooting his elbow into the wheel-to-wheel racing car, perhaps the one you'll take the lead in this case. "You're facing a brand new suit, not an eight-piece suit, which is already a bit of a thump. There's a 20-20 rearview, which is easy to say, stay outside."

It is hard to avoid feeling that Verstappen’s controversy is entirely a mess that Red Bull made it himself.

Even before the clash with Russell, there was evidence that Verstappen's frustration was bubbling. He never shys away from talking about the shortcomings of Red Bull this year. In the Monaco Grand Prix, he quipped on the radio that his clutch felt like a 1972 game. When Verstappen complained about similar parts of the car in Barcelona on Sunday, racing engineer Gianpiero Lambiase mentioned the comment again, just to let Verstappen hint that it may now at least feel like it was 1974.pancake“(Dutch “pancake” term, meaning a useless or incompetent person), and again, suggesting that the talented driver repeatedly fails to get the best of other Red Bulls from other Red Bulls, suggests that the team design a totally unpleasant car.

This is Verstappen's deeper frustration that is fascinating.

Despite his contract in 2028, there are still some people in the paddock who tell you that they are convinced he will leave the team before that. Aston Martin's boss Lawrence Stroll is reportedly very interested in bringing the four-time world champion to his team. The terms reported in Verstappen's contract have largely been reported, and if he's off in the summer in August, he can leave Red Bull if he's below fourth place in the drivers' championship. Given that he left Barcelona on a single point, there could be a possible ban if he had further trouble, which is obviously far-fetched than before the weekend.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is an interesting observer on Sunday night. The two men involved in the controversial incident represent a series of conflicting ideas that must have been bouncing in his mind for a while.

Despite his outstanding performance this season, Russell still hasn't signed a Mercedes contract after 2025 - the paddock has conflicting reports and understandings about how close the two sides are to the consenting party. Whatever the facts are, Wolff is known to have a desire to bring Verstappen to his team, and it is reasonable for the Dutch to have a connection with Lewis Hamilton's old team as long as Russell remains unsigned.

Strangely, given that Wolff's tendency to enthusiastically step out of the clear side when a controversial incident involved one of his drivers, he was on the fence, perhaps saying, perhaps reluctant to throw Verstappen under the bus.

"I mean, if it's road rage, I can't imagine it because it's too obvious, that's not great," Wolf said on Sunday. "But I don't know what he's aiming for. Does he want George to go over, and replay it right away? Put the car in front of George and then let him go over the right way like the old Doctor game? Or... it's incomprehensible to me, it's incomprehensible (if intentional). But, I don't know what he doesn't want him to judge, what it's judgement. OK."