Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
2024 Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen blasted George Russell for an incident that took place during the qualifying of the Qatar Grand Prix at Lusail, and said that he had ‘lost all respect’ for the British driver.
Verstappen took the win in Qatar on Sunday but was clearly seething from the incident that took place on Saturday. After his qualification finished, the Dutch driver was penalised for driving slowly and impeding Russell. The contents of the meeting with the stewards, according to Verstappen, was where he and Russell butted heads.
“I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life and my career with people that I’ve raced and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. For me, I lost all respect,” Verstappen said to the media after the race.
The Red Bull frontman went one step further on Dutch TV and said, “He always does it very nicely here in front of the camera, but then when you’re inside with him in person, it’s just a different person,” he said. “I can’t stand that and it’s actually better for him to f*** off. I don’t want to get involved in this.”
He was handed a one grid position demotion for the race and couldn’t start on pole. But he quickly regained the spot from Lando Norris in the first lap itself. And yet despite taking the win, Verstappen alluded that a reputation for bothering him was starting to form.
“I couldn’t believe that I got it. But in a way I was also not surprised any more in the world that I live in,” he said. “I didn’t want to screw anyone over to prepare their lap and by doing that, being nice, basically you get a penalty. That’s what I tried to explain as well but I just felt like I was talking to a brick wall.”
