How Max Verstappen “lost all respect” for George Russell after Qatar Grand Prix

Despite Max Verstappen winning again at the weekend in Qatar, his most noteworthy moment of the weekend came during an interview with the Dutch TV station Viaplay in which he offered a scathing review of Mercedes driver, George Russell.

Verstappen’s comments came after he was given a one-place grid penalty for driving too slowly during qualifying, with the FIA claiming, “[Verstappen] did not comply with the race director's event notes and clearly was driving, in our determination, unnecessarily slowly considering the circumstances,” in their verdict.

The Dutchman made his displeasure towards Russell clear, telling Viaplay, “I was quite surprised when sitting there in the stewards' room, what was all going on,” before adding, “I've been in that meeting room many times in my life, in my career with people that have raced, and I've never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard.”

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Max added that he had, “lost all respect” for Russell after the incident, suggesting the Briton’s public demeanour is very different from the one you see behind the scenes.

Verstappen claimed, “"He [Russell] always acts extremely polite in front of the cameras but if you sit together with him personally, he's a completely different person.”

In perhaps the harshest words of his tirade, the four-time world champion finished by saying, “I truly can't stand that. Then you might as well get lost. I don't want anything to do with you.”

Despite the penalty, Verstappen was able to recover and win in Qatar, his ninth of the season, as Russell finished off the podium in fourth.

Per BBC Sport, Russell has not yet been asked about the incident with Verstappen, however, Mercedes sources have suggested there is more to the story that has not yet been released.

Russell is expected to speak to the media on Thursday, 5th December ahead of the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Perhaps after a few days to cool down, there could be nothing more to this story, or with a long off-season ahead, Russell could let us know what he really thinks of Max’s comments!

Max Verstappen has already wrapped up the 2024 driver’s championship but with just one race to go in the calendar, it is all still to play for in the constructor’s championship, with McLaren just 21 points ahead of Ferrari with 44 points still available.

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