Max Verstappen did not mince words when asked about his competitor, Mercedes driver George Russell, at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen, who qualified first the day before, lined up P2 behind Russell after an incident between the two drivers resulted in Verstappen receiving a one-place grid drop for driving “unnecessarily slowly on a cool-down lap.”
The incident happened during Q3 when Verstappen was driving slowly in an attempt to cool down his tires. Russell wasn’t anticipating Verstappen’s speed, pulling up and swerving to avoid him. After the session, the two drivers argued their cases with the stewards, who issued Verstappen the penalty.
Verstappen went on to win the Qatar GP on Sunday but expressed frustration about his meeting with the stewards during the post-race news conference — particularly with the role Russell, who started first on the grid after the penalty, had played in the decision.
“I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life, in my career with, you know, people that I’ve raced. And I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. And that, for me … I lost all respect,” Verstappen said about Russell.
Verstappen called the penalty “very disappointing.” “I couldn’t believe that I got it,” he said.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the incident could also be interpreted as Russell driving too fast with slow cars ahead, and that the penalty was “more based on hysterics from George” than anything.
“I did feel that George (Russell) and Mercedes made a big meal out of it, and it was unprecedented on a slow lap for Max (Verstappen) to end up with a one-place penalty,” Horner said.
Before the race, Russell told Sky Sports F1 that he knew Verstappen was upset about the penalty.
“I know he is, he already told me,” he said. “So it’s going to be an interesting Turn 1, but at the end of the day, trying to focus on ourselves.”
Verstappen did beat Russell cleanly out of Turn 1, and Russell never threatened the Red Bull driver the rest of the race. Verstappen earned his ninth win of the season, while Russell finished off the podium in fourth after the stewards issued a five-second penalty for exceeding a ten-car-length gap under the safety car.
It was at least the second time this season Verstappen had won pole but not started from first on the grid. At the Belgian Grand Prix in July, Verstappen incurred a ten-place grid penalty for exceeding his allotted power units and started P11. Verstappen still hasn’t started from pole since the Austrian Grand Prix on June 30.
As director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (the union for active F1 drivers), Russell has been a leading voice asking for more clarity around punishments levied by the FIA, F1’s governing body. In early November, the GPDA issued an open letter calling on the FIA to treat them like adults after recent controversies surrounding its punishments for “misconduct” like swearing. Verstappen had previously been sanctioned for swearing in an FIA press conference in September.
Required reading
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(Photo: Bryn Lennon / Getty Images)
