Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has given his thoughts on whether Max Verstappen treats his side differently after the Dutchman made contact with George Russell during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday. Following the collision, both drivers had a heated altercation at parc ferme.
When asked if Verstappen treats Mercedes differently as compared to other teams, Wolff replied (as quoted by autosport.com), “No, I think Max races Lewis differently. But between the same generation drivers, they are all fierce, but they know each other so well“.
The 51-year-old then went on to play down the incident between Verstappen and Russell by simply referring to it as ‘entertainment’. “Friendly exchanges between drivers is a good entertainment factor – so irrelevant,” he explained.
Max Verstappen was furious after making contact with George Russell
While Toto Wolff did not pay too much heed to the incident, Max Verstappen was seething. The Dutchman not only blamed George Russell for the contact on his team radio but also confronted the Briton after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday.
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While speaking to Russell at Parc Ferme, Verstappen called him a ****head before slamming him further in his post-race interviews. When asked to explain the incident, the Red Bull driver said (as quoted by crash.net), “[Defending the position] is not allowed because ‘Princess George’ is there. At the end of the day, that’s his problem too“.
Meanwhile, Russell had defended his stance earlier by stating that it was never his intention to collide with Verstappen and that he had cold tires. However, Verstappen was having none of this reasoning as he referred to the incident as ‘inexcusable’. He stated that everyone had cold tires and that Russell was just ‘clumsy’.
Verstappen and Russell have contrasting starts to the 2023 season
After the first four races of the 2023 season, both Max Verstappen and George Russell find themselves at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Dutchman is in the form of his life as he has already registered two wins and two second-place finishes for the season.
Consequently of these results, he has scored 93 points and has a six-point lead over his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez in the championship. As for Russell, he is currently seventh in the championship with 28 points and is 20 points behind his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
