Max Verstappen was angered by George Russell following contact between the pair on the opening lap of the Azerbaijan Sprint.

The pair came together at Turn 2 as they scrapped over third place.

Verstappen sustained damage to his left sidepod in the clash and slipped behind the Mercedes at the next corner after his exit was compromised.

He would reclaim third at the Safety Car restart following Yuki Tsunoda’s crash with the wall.

Drawing alongside Russell on the run to the control line, Verstappen completed the move cleanly into Turn 1.

“We definitely got through the corner without him hitting the inside barrier,” Verstappen said when asked if he felt he left Russell enough space in their opening lap squabble.

“So I think I did leave enough space, but apparently it’s hard to not hit a Red Bull car, I guess.”

Verstappen and Russell exchanged words regarding the contact in parc ferme after the Sprint.

The Mercedes driver explained that, with cold tyres, he slid wide and couldn’t avoid the Dutchman.

That didn’t fly with the world championship leader who quipped back that everyone had cold tyres.

“We all have cold tyres so you’re always under the limit, I would say, in the first lap,” Verstappen argued.

“That’s the only thing I can say.”

Once he’d progressed beyond Russell, Verstappen found himself stuck behind Charles Leclerc.

While fast enough to run in the Ferrari’s wheel tracks, he was never close enough to make a move – even with the influence of DRS.

Whether he would have been able to mount a more serious challenge without a wounded car was unclear.

“It as a bit weird,” Verstappen said of his car’s handling following the clash.

“The car was jumping around a lot and sliding in some weird places, vibrations… I need to look into the data to know exactly how much damage it did but it’s not great.

“Of course, you try to close the gap a bit, you are constantly in the dirty air and I guess at one point also my tyres were running a little bit too hot.”

Third in the Sprint still netted Verstappen six world championship points.

It sees his advantage over team-mate Perez close by two after the Mexican won the encounter.

Verstappen starts second alongside Leclerc for tomorrow’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which commences at 15:00 local time (21:00 AEST).