Daniel Ricciardo has been away for F1 for several months now, but has kept an eye on what has been unfolding in the sport. Like the majority of the community, he witnessed the verbal battle between George Russell and Max Verstappen, and shared some candid advice for the Mercedes driver.
Ricciardo simply asked Russell to refrain from angering Verstappen. In a segment with the host of the Red Flags Podcast, Ricciardo admitted that it was ‘great television’. “First time I’ve seen George angry,” the honey badger said.
“Would you advice talking sh*t about Max like that,” the host further asked. And Ricciardo simply said, “Not right now. The kid’s like hitting his marks”.
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Ricciardo’s statements echoed those of many experts in F1, who felt that getting on the wrong side of Verstappen was a bad idea. The Red Bull driver has dominated since 2021, winning every World Championship, including 2024, where he drove an underperforming RB20 to victory despite his rivals throwing everything at him.
It takes a lot to defeat Verstappen, and Ricciardo knows how difficult it is, considering he is the only driver in F1 to have defeated the Dutchman as a teammate (Red Bull, 2016). For Russell, making Verstappen an enemy would only do him more harm than good, as it could make him the Red Bull driver’s new target.
What happened between Russell and Verstappen?
It all dates back to the Qatar GP, where a qualifying infringement resulted in 0ff-track turmoil that caused huge controversy. Russell alleged that Verstappen drove ‘dangerously slow’ during their final Q3 out-lap, and strongly demanded a penalty for the 27-year-old.
The stewards agreed and handed Verstappen a one-place grid penalty, taking his pole position away. And while it didn’t really affect him in the race as he won, he was yet livid.
He called Russell two-faced and also told the press, “George is a bully. That he brings up all these kinds of things. He is just a loser. He lies and sticks all kinds of things together that are not correct.”
Russell did not hold back either, hitting back at Verstappen by suggesting that the Dutchman needed to be put into place. He vowed to stand up to Verstappen, and even brought his team principal Toto Wolff into the fight, publicly stating that he had lost all respect for the Red Bull driver.
This exchange has the potential to evolve into a new rivalry in 2025, provided both have competitive cars. Whether they bury the hatchet or continue this battle remains to be seen.
