Russell passed Alpine racer Esteban Ocon on the final lap to grab fourth place at the line, but he was ultimately demoted to eighth owing to a five-second penalty for a tangle with race winner Verstappen.
At half distance, Verstappen dived down the inside into Turn 12 but the pair came to blows.
Without the reprimand - which he did not object to, saying he was caught unawares by Verstappen - and damage from the bash, third-starting Russell reckons a podium finish was on the cards.
Russell said: “It was pretty straight forward until the incident with Max. Just totally didn't see him in the blind spot. Wasn't expecting the overtake.
“I wasn't even really fighting him because we knew that Max wasn't our race. We just had to keep the tyres alive.
“It was a comfortable podium just thrown away once again. So, this season is really disappointing. Very frustrating.”
Source: Autosport