Christian Horner complains about George Russell during Max Verstappen fight at Spanish GP

Christian Horner moaned that George Russell had not left Max Verstappen enough room during their fight on track at the Spanish Grand Prix. It came as Verstappen and Russell battled side-by-side for several laps halfway through the race. 

Verstappen was nursing DRS issues while Russell was battling to stay ahead of the Red Bull as Mercedes’ form continued to improve. At one stage, the Red Bull driver looked to have gotten past Russell through the tricky complex at turns one, two and three.

However, Russell swept back through after holding his line, ensuring he stayed ahead of the Red Bull a bit longer. During the battle, Horner complained: “Not sure he left you a car’s width.”

The battle between the pair became even more important after Charles Leclerc suffered mechanical issues halfway through the race. However, Russell was unable to keep up with the pace of the Red Bull’s as he dropped to third behind Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen’s team radio meltdown as Red Bull issues continue 

Horner’s comments come after Verstappen complained to his team over the radio as his DRS issues continued. Verstappen struggled with DRS issues in qualifying yesterday and they returned on Sunday despite the team installing four new parts ahead of the race.

The Dutchman was unable to open his rear wing flap several times when battling with Russell which delayed him getting past. He fired some heated radio messages at his race engineer with several swear words exchanged.

After qualifying, Horner warned the team were suffering with DRS issues which had affected Verstappen’s final lap yesterday. 

He told Sky Sports: “It wasn’t actually power. In the end, it was a DRS that didn’t open. So obviously we need to get the car back to understand what’s caused [it], because it opened on the back straight just as a check as it came back into the pits.”