Max Verstappen has doubled down on his criticism of George Russell following their altercation after Qatar Grand Prix qualifying.
Verstappen and Russell typically loved cordial relations to this point, however that modified on the Qatar Grand Prix when Verstappen felt Russell was attempting to sew him up in entrance of the FIA race stewards and land the Dutchman a penalty for impeding him whereas on a warm-up lap throughout Saturday’s qualifying session.
Verstappen ended up with a one-place penalty, which noticed him lose his pole for the grand prix to the Mercedes driver. However he then retaliated on Sunday by making a greater begin than Russell and taking the lead, earlier than occurring to say his ninth grand prix victory of the season.
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Afterwards Verstappen stated he had misplaced all respect for Russell for the best way he was actively attempting to get the Dutchman in bother, along with his staff boss Christian Horner labelling Russell as “fairly hysterical” over the Qatar difficulty.
Requested in Abu Dhabi if stress had cooled and Verstappen thought any otherwise about his row with Russell, the four-time world champion as an alternative doubled down on his criticism.
“No, no regrets in any respect, as a result of I meant the whole lot I stated and it is nonetheless the identical,” Verstappen stated on Thursday. “If I needed to do it once more, possibly I might have stated much more, understanding the result of the race outcome.
“I nonetheless cannot imagine that somebody could be like that within the stewards room. For me, that was so unacceptable, as a result of we’re all racing drivers. All of us have a variety of respect for one another. We even play sports activities collectively, you journey collectively.
“And naturally, you have got moments the place you get collectively, you crash, or no matter, you are not completely satisfied. In my entire profession, I’ve by no means skilled what I’ve skilled within the stewards’ room in Qatar. And for me, that was actually unacceptable.”
Pole man Max Verstappen, Pink Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Workforce, discuss in Parc Ferme
Photograph by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Photographs
Verstappen claimed Russell was “mendacity” to the stewards about what he was doing on the outlap, with the Dutchman explaining he was simply attempting to remain out of bother now he already has the world championship within the bag on the finish of a protracted season.
“It is nothing to do with him being the director of the GPDA,” he stated. “I simply by no means anticipated somebody to essentially attempt to actively get somebody a penalty that badly and mendacity about why I used to be doing what I used to be doing. However clearly it had an affect on [the stewards]. It was simply actually not good and really very surprising what was occurring there.”
Talking concerning the incident, Verstappen added: “Every little thing slowed up in entrance, as a result of there have been fairly just a few automobiles, and I slowed down as properly as a result of I do not need to then velocity up and attempt to damage their preparation as properly.
“Then I see somebody flying in my mirror, performing like essentially the most harmful state of affairs simply occurred and he virtually killed himself or one thing. It was unbelievable. And we’re all on a gradual lap, it isn’t even like somebody was on the quick lap.
“I do not understand how the [stewards] got here to that conclusion. By really attempting to remain out of bother, you set your self in bother. And in addition at that time of the season I do not need to be preventing with anybody once they come to me after qualifying saying: ‘Why did you damage my lap. What are you doing?’
“I do not need to put myself in that place. However mainly, by doing that, I put myself in that place the place I needed to go to the stewards.”
On this article
Filip Cleeren
System 1
Max Verstappen
George Russell
Pink Bull Racing
Mercedes
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