F1 CONFIDENTIAL: Why George Russell’s verbal attack on Max Verstappen is an example to Lando Norris and the rest of the grid
You might think it is a plot concocted for the Netflix cameras. It is not. It is a real enmity, and it is hard to see it abating as long as Max Verstappen and George Russell share the same tarmac.
Given Verstappen is 27 and Russell 26, there is plenty of bumpy road left to run.
The notion of this concluding race playing out quietly under the Abu Dhabi sunshine was scuppered as the pair in adjacent hospitality suites become the worst of neighbours.
‘A bully’ who tried to drive him up the wall, alleged Russell. ‘A loser,’ scoffed Verstappen, who intensified his objections to ‘two-faced’ Russell – feeling he had been stitched up by the Mercedes man in the stewards’ room in Qatar last weekend.
It is a characteristic of the quadruple world champion that he is most direct and talkative when angry. As for Russell, we hadn’t seen on a public stage how he reacts when put in a proverbial corner. We know now – fighting, which is what he had to do if he wasn’t going to be Verstappen’s bunny for the rest of his career.
He could not do what Lando Norris did after he tangled with Verstappen in Austria. The McLaren driver first pinned some blame on Verstappen, only to retract the meat of his complaints the following race.
The new rivalry between George Russell (left) and Max Verstappen (right) is a real enmity
Russell has branded Verstappen a ‘bully’, while the insult of ‘a loser’ was hurled the other way
Russell, 26, had to come out fighting if he wasn’t going to be Verstappen’s bunny for the rest of his career
The climbdown left the impression that the Dutchman had Norris exactly where he wanted him for the remainder of the season – on and off the track.
Russell said ahead of the Qatar race that he believed he would have beaten Verstappen to this year’s world title in either the McLaren or Red Bull. Did that contention reach Verstappen’s ears prior to qualifying and the subsequent row that started off the name-calling?
Regardless of whether Russell’s remarks irked Verstappen or not, they meant the Briton could not back down with any credibility now. And, wow, he let rip at Verstappen.
Having never courted controversy in a career marked by Mercedes’ corporate polish, he took Max’s modus operandi to task.
‘It’s funny because even before I said a word in the stewards, he was swearing at them,’ said Russell. ‘He was so angry before I’d even spoken. The facts were the facts. He was going too slow. He was on the racing line in the highest speed corner.
‘I wasn’t trying to give him a penalty at all when I was on track. I was in pole position at this time. I was just trying to prepare my lap. And as drivers, you fight hard on track. You fight hard in the stewards. The same way as Max, the very next day, asked his team to look at Lando’s penalty through the yellow flag.
‘That’s not personal, Max to Lando. That’s just racing. And I do not see why he felt the need for this personal attack. And I’m not going to take it.
‘I’ve known Max for a long time. I know what he’s capable of. He said to me that he’s going purposely to crash into me, putting my f***ing head in the wall.
The duo clashed last weekend in Qatar and it is a narrative of focus going into the final race
Russell went onto claim that Michael Masi would have been ‘fighting for his life’ had he cost Verstappen the championship the way he did Lewis Hamilton in 2021
‘When I compare his actions to the ones of Lewis (Hamilton), Lewis is the sort of world champion whom I aspire to be like. The way he fought Max in 2021 was hard. Very hard. It’s fair. But never beyond the line.
‘And Lewis lost that championship unfairly. Could you imagine the roles being reversed? Max losing that championship. I mean, (race director Michael) Masi would be fearing for his life.’
There is no doubt that Verstappen is a punchy driver and personality. As a racer he is more in the uncompromising mould of Michael Schumacher than Hamilton, who has never been dirty on track.
But Verstappen has outstanding race craft, too, a fact he repeatedly underlined in defeating Norris.
He also demonstrated that same skill his fired-up but perfectly executed start last week. Having been demoted a place from pole for impeding Russell – the bone of contention – he strongarmed his way past Russell. One turn. A point made.
What was going through Russell’s mind at this stage we now know. Max was in his head.
Verstappen then drove a flawless race, leading every lap. Russell finished fourth – not his best day after his fabulous win in Las Vegas a week before.
But in his trenchant comments, Russell provided a glimpse that he is not prepared to be walked all over, even by a force of nature.
Verstappen won on the grid last week, overtaking Russell early on and dominating the race
Russell has now, however, provided a glimpse that he is not prepared to be walked all over
What could have been
The Southern Sun is the Abu Dhabi hotel for FIA staff. Walking into its lobby on Thursday morning had the mind turning back to the eve of the 2021 decider here.
Michael Masi, whose ‘human error’ cost him his job as race director a couple of days later, had kept his word to give me an interview.
We sat in the lobby and I joked with him that he ‘loved a red flag’, having deployed the race-stopping strategy more often that the late Charlie Whiting, whom he had the unenviable job of replacing.
But when Nicholas Latifi crashed, bringing out the most contentious safety car ever, he did not wave the red flag. He was probably right not to do so, but it is hard not to think how differently history might have played out had he.
Michael Masi shaped history with his call at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix three years ago
His decision to bring out a contentious safety car resulted in Verstappen winning his first title
Expect the unexpected
Few things have potential to drain the spirits more than dead rubbers. And in terms of the drivers’ championship, this is the second of them.
But I remember thinking that before Romain Grosjean burst into flames in Bahrain four years ago. That set pulses racing, not least his as he made a miracle escape. Formula One has a recurring knack of throwing up hot news when you least expect it.
Dead rubbers can often throw up surprises in racing – such as when Romain Grosjean burst into flames in Bahrain four years ago
Verstappen still a target?
Toto Wolff was in attendance as George Russell spoke in the Mercedes hospitality area on Thursday. Strange – not usual procedure. A show of support, I guess.
One observation beyond that: Wolff did not criticise Verstappen, revealing perhaps that his move for the quadruple world champion for 2026 is still in motion.
Max and George? That would be spicy.
Mercedes Toto Wolff did not criticise Verstappen this week – could he still be targeting a move?
Barber’s chair, from London to Qatar
What does the author of this column have in common with Jude Bellingham?
Prodigious football talent, apart.
I had his barber cut my hair in Qatar, part of a pop-up hairdresser’s in the paddock. Novak Djokovic and I were patrons. Thanks to HD Cutz, of London.
The author of this column had his hair cut by Jude Bellingham’s barber in Qatar last week
Hamilton’s final farewell
Drinks on Thursday night were above the harbour at Mercedes’s paddock base, a couple of levels up from where Russell had lit the fireworks a few hours earlier. A video ran celebrating Lewis Hamilton’s years with them, ending this weekend.
His manager Marc Hynes was along. But no sign, while I was there, of the big man himself. His relations with the press have long been at arm’s length.
