WATCH | Heated exchange between Verstappen, Russell in Baku: 'He's very good at creating excuses'

The internet has almost been broken after a heated exchange between Max Verstappen and George Russell following the Sprint Race in Baku.

At the start of the 17-lap race on Saturday (29 April), Russell squeezed his Mercedes past Verstappen's Red Bull, taking third and relegating the defending champion to fourth. While this was good racing, it ignited Verstappen's ire as his car received damage, hindering its performance.

Though Verstappen repassed Russell for third place, the sustained damage made it impossible to pass Ferrari's Charles Leclerc as Red Bull's other driver, Sergio Perez, went on to win the 100km race.

Though Verstappen and Russell spoke immediately after the Sprint Race, Verstappen confirmed that the situation is not yet resolved.

"No, it's not clarified," sighed Verstappen. "I just don't understand why you need to take some much risk on Lap 1. Understeering into my sidepod, [creating] a hole..."

George and Max have a tense post-Sprint debrief over their Lap 1 contact ??#AzerbaijanGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/TjtwOyu5ff

Quite surprised

Following the Sprint Race, Russell gave his thoughts on the matter, saying that he did everything according to the book and that Verstappen was out of position. According to the Mercedes driver, if a driver continues to battle while on the outside of an apex, he is at risk.

"I was quite surprised, I thought he was coming over to say 'good battle', to be honest," Russell said in a post-race interview about his and Verstappen's chat immediately after the race.

READ: Max Verstappen furious after brazen George Russell damages his Red Bull in Baku

"From my side, I was on the inside, the position was already lost from him, and I was really quite surprised he was still trying to hold in