George Russell said Max Verstappen “let himself down” by appearing to drive deliberately into his Mercedes during the Spanish Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s Verstappen received a 10-second penalty for the incident following the collision with the Briton’s car.
It dropped the Dutchman from fifth to 10th in the final result, leaving him 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren, who won the race from team-mate Lando Norris.
Russell said: “Totally unnecessary and sort of lets him down. I don’t know what he was thinking.
“It doesn’t really make sense to deliberately crash into somebody and risk damaging your own car, risk a penalty.
“In the end, I’m not going to lose sleep over it because I ultimately benefited from those antics.”
Verstappen responded that he would “bring some tissues next time”, adding: “He has his view, I have my view.”
He was reluctant to discuss the incident in detail, but he did say that it was “a misjudgement”.
He was also given three penalty points on his licence. That takes him to 11, one short of a race ban.
He will have to keep his nose clean over the next two races in Canada and Austria, after which some points come off because they go beyond their year’s expiry, if he is not to be forced to sit out a grand prix.
