Max Verstappen came out with some scathing remarks for George Russell after winning the Qatar GP. The Dutchman called the Brit “two-faced” for vehemently calling for his penalty in the stewards’ room while acting friendly with him in front of the cameras. While Russell was successful in getting Verstappen off the pole position with the one-place grid penalty, Verstappen responded by winning the race.
The controversy, ideally, should have ended in Qatar itself. However, it is Russell this time around who is going ballistic on his opponent. The #63 driver found himself in the midst of a crowd of journalists during the pre-race press conference at the Abu Dhabi GP. Most of the questions asked for him to respond to Verstappen‘s remarks.
Russell spilled some behind-the-scenes secrets to put Verstappen down. He slammed the reigning champion for disrespecting his own team when the car faced some problems. Russell claims that resulted in a chunk of the Red Bull crew preparing to jump ship to other teams. Mercedes was among those who received a bunch of CVs.
The Mercedes driver had team principal Toto Wolff accompanying him to the press conference. Wolff reportedly defended Russell against Verstappen in front of the media. The Austrian’s presence seemed out of place as he evidently went softer on Verstappen while pursuing him to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
Nevertheless, Wolff sternly defended Russell, particularly over what Christian Horner had said about him. The Red Bull deemed Russell’s behavior in Qatar as hysterical, which did not go down well with his Mercedes counterpart.
“There is a thing between drivers, and this is George and Max, and I don’t want to get involved in that, but if the other team principal calls George hysterical, this is where he crosses a line for me.” Wolff stated.
Extraordinary press conference with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff joining George Russell to defend his driver after public criticism from Max Verstappen.
Russell says Verstappen has got away with being a bully because nobody has stood up to him – until now #F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/mQKN5S564Y
— Lewis Larkam (@Lewis_Larkam) December 5, 2024
Meanwhile, Russell added about the Dutchman, “I don’t respect somebody who doesn’t appreciate those who have given him the chance to perform, because these last 12 races, he has had a car that is of normal competitiveness, and he’s been in the fight the same way as myself, Lewis, Charles [Leclerc], Carlos [Sainz], Lando and [Oscar] Piastri have been.”
Verstappen, when asked to respond, has refused to take his words back on Russell. It would be interesting to see how the dynamic between the duo will pan out in 2025. Before that, their teams can only wish to see them bring their cars back intact without any incident at the Abu Dhabi GP.
