Nico Rosberg was singing the praises of Max Verstappen just days before ripping into him at the Spanish Grand Prix, it has been claimed. The reigning world champion was involved in a controversial moment with George Russell in the closing stages of the race. He collided with his Mercedes rival after being told by Red Bull to let him through and was later handed a 10-second penalty.

Rosberg was covering the race in the Sky Sports commentary box and was not impressed with Verstappen’s conduct. He described the incident as ‘seriously bad’ and claimed the Dutchman ‘rammed him full on’. Rosberg also urged the stewards to disqualify Verstappen for crashing into Russell ‘on purpose’ and was shocked that he only got a time penalty.

Michael Bleekemolen, who briefly raced in F1 during the 1970s, was left surprised with Rosberg’s strong words given that he was praising Verstappen just days earlier at the Monaco Grand Prix.

“Rosberg spent the entire weekend in Monaco next to us with his boat,” said Bleekemolen in an interview with RacingNews365. “I think he’s a very introverted man and he just shouts that. A few days before that he was complimenting him.

“But you’re not allowed to do that [what happened in Spain]. That’s clear, and then everyone has their opinion about it. What’s done is done.”

Quizzed on why Verstappen was so angry at the time of his collision with Russell, Bleekemolen replied: “Because of a few things that happened in that car one after the other. Then he becomes increasingly venomous, and rightly so.”

The day after the race, Verstappen said on Instagram that his move on Russell was ‘not right’ and ‘should not have happened’.

“That shows that he is honest and that he also sees this,” added Bleekemolen. “I think it is great that he does that. I don’t think he is really looking to do that anymore, but based on this, he does do that a little bit.

“It is also a bit difficult. I would not be so quick to walk up to someone and say sorry if someone has hit me and I have hit them again. That rarely happens in motorsport anyway.”

Verstappen is now just one penalty point away from a race ban, having picked up three in Spain to bring his total to 11. Two of those points will expire at the end of June before another two are written off in late October.