George Russell Publicly Disses Max Verstappen and Red Bull by Making a Naughty Wish

George Russell was recently involved in a  hilarious interaction along with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton when he publicly dissed Max Verstappen. The conversation began with Hamilton discussing how much progress the Silver Arrows have made recently to help him clinch the pole at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. However, as soon as Hamilton began talking about Verstappen, Russell seemingly made a naughty wish.

Russell presumably did so because the Dutchman has been a thorn in the side of all his rivals- Mercedes in particular. At first, he ended Mercedes’ domination in the 2021 season by defeating Hamilton to his maiden title, and now he seems to be leaving a marker of his own by winning week in and week out.

This is because Verstappen has already won nine out of 11 races this season, including the last seven. Now, as he continues his domination, Russell hopes that the Red Bull driver leaves the sport as it is much more exciting without him.

George Russell hopes Max Verstappen and Red Bull leave F1

Only 11 races have passed in the 2023 season and both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton already seem tired of Max Verstappen’s domination. This is because even while they were addressing Mercedes fans at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, they could not go without taking the Dutchman’s name.

Hamilton began a recent interaction by explaining how he was only a tenth off pole during the Belgian GP qualifying session on Friday if the Dutchman’s time was ignored. He believes that he was almost as quick as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who set the second-fastest time during the qualifying session.

On hearing Hamilton, the crowd burst into laughter. However, Russell had a suggestion of his own. The 25-year-old said with a laugh, “Formula 1 would be so exciting if Max and Red Bull were not here at the moment“.

Full vid before everyone starts to hate 😭 https://t.co/GYfpYRey7R

— Marina (@xxoMarina) July 29, 2023

While Russell made this naughty suggestion, he did admit that he and the rest of the team have all the respect for Verstappen and Red Bull for how well they are doing at the moment. The former Williams driver just believes that when it comes to the excitement, it is all there for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.

It is at this point when Hamilton too stated that the focus of Mercedes was now to finish second in the standings since they have no chance of beating Red Bull. While Mercedes seems frustrated to see their arch-rivals so ahead of them, Verstappen seems to believe that his team are just doing a much better job than the Silver Arrows ever did during their dominant years.

Max Verstappen credits Red Bull’s reliability for his dominance

Ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend, Max Verstappen explained how proud he was to be a part of Red Bull. He stated that what impresses him most about his team is that they have shown a level of dominance that not even Mercedes showed during the turbo hybrid era. The 25-year-old believes that a significant improvement in reliability is a key reason for Red Bull having currently won 12 races in a row (1 last season).

“Even in the dominant years of Mercedes, they couldn’t make it happen. And I think they were probably more dominant then, or what we have at the moment or what McLaren had. Because there were a lot more retirements going on just with reliability stuff. So I am really proud to be a part of the team and achieve something like this“, explained the Red Bull driver (as quoted by the Athletic), who would be looking for his eighth consecutive win at SPA this weekend.

However, if Verstappen is to extend his current run of wins, he will need to overtake a few cars because of a five-place grid penalty that will result in him starting sixth for the main race. Hence, since the Dutchman is not on pole for this weekend, it will be interesting to see what he can do from further back on the grid.