Max Verstappen had the final laugh of the 2024 Qatar GP weekend, in what must have been a satisfying moment of redemption following his demotion from the pole position. After the race, the Dutchman did not have kind words for George Russell, who was the reason he had to start from P2.
After qualifying on Saturday, Russell had claimed that Verstappen drove ‘dangerously slow’ in the build-up to his final Q3 run. Russell, who had to swerve out of the way to avoid an incident, insisted that it compromised his final lap and the stewards decided to hand the Red Bull driver a one-place grid penalty as a result.
Verstappen is a fierce competitor, but he didn’t like seeing how hard Russell fought to have his starting position taken away. “I’ve been to the stewards many times. I’ve never seen a driver try so hard to scr*w another driver,” the four-time World Champion said.
Max in the press conference about George Russell: “I’ve been to the stewards many times. I’ve never seen a driver try so hard to screw another driver.”
[@JoostNederpelt] pic.twitter.com/rOHP0ijBfM
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) December 1, 2024
It didn’t affect Verstappen ultimately, as he went on to win the race rather comfortably. However, when asked if he would talk to Russell about what happened, Verstappen ended up ‘exposing’ him.
“He always acts extremely polite in front of the cameras but if you sit together with him personally, he’s a completely different person. I truly can’t stand that. Then you might as well f**k off,” Verstappen added.
Russell finished in P4 at the end, following what turned out to be a rather disappointing evening. Perhaps it was Karma like Gianpiero Lambaise had said.
Lambiase rubs salt in Russell’s wounds
Verstappen’s race engineer Lambiase did not forget that it was Russell who was the reason that the Dutchman had to start the race from P2. As soon as the chequered flag was waved and he was done congratulating Verstappen on his win, Lambiase said,
“Okay mate, karma is a wonderful thing. Definitely did not drive necessarily slowly today, great job.”
With Lambiase also taking a dig at Russell, it is fair to say that Red Bull did not like the way the Mercedes driver behaved. Moreover, it wasn’t just Verstappen or Lambiase who took a swipe at the 26-year-old.
Even Red Bull team principal Christian Horner called Russell out on Sunday. Horner compared Russell’s antics to a ‘soccer player diving in the box’ to earn a penalty, hinting that the British driver was resorting to unsportsmanlike behavior to get his way.
