Kravitz: 'Seething Verstappen said this to Russell before Qatar GP'
Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner confirmed that Max Verstappen and George Russell had an altercation before the start of the Qatar Grand Prix. Lando Norris witnessed the moment, and Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz says he knows what Verstappen said to the Mercedes driver.
Horner on confrontation Verstappen and Russell
"I think there was a little bit of a moment between the two of them on the trailer as they go around the circuit earlier. He felt that things just went a bit too far yesterday. He was so motivated coming into this race, even more than usual," Horner said in a conversation with Sky Sports.
Norris witnessed the moment between Verstappen and Russell. "I think George and Max have been having a little squabble behind the scenes," the McLaren driver said ahead of the race. He hoped this would play to his own advantage, but that turned out not to be the case. Verstappen got off the line better and had already outsmarted Russell before the first corner.
Kravitz: 'Furious Verstappen confronted Russell'
Sky Sports reporter Kravitz says he knows what the Dutchman said to his rival. "In the drivers' parade holding room, Max confronted George, still seething, and said something along the lines of 'you and your FIA buddies, I hope you're happy with what you've done'. I think the actual quote was rather ruder than that. I'm not going to say what that was. But that seems to be the confrontation that Horner referred to," Kravitz said.
Horner said Verstappen used his displeasure as motivation. "He delivered the most amazing performance. He was just like a metronome just lap after lap whilst looking after those tyres. In the high speed corners he wasn't taking as much energy out the tyre that gave him the longevity because we're in this weird situation where the tires were getting faster and faster as they were getting down to the canvas, and then the punctures started coming," the team boss added about the punctures for Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton
I understand the penalty and the punishment, but I do feel they(FIA) are setting a precedent which can quickly get out of hand. Every time you want someone grid dropped, you sneak up to them slowly and then aggressively accelerate and catch them mid corner before they can move out of the way. It's going to be interesting to see how they police this going forward because it happens a multitude of times on specific circuits every year. Congrats to Max on dealing with whatever is thrown his way.
russell has always been a nasty bit of work, but since he believes that he is the chosen one in merc, he has become even more obnoxious. wolff and his own family need to pull him down a peg or two !
When russell joind merc he change to the big obnoxius prat my be toto needs to give russell a good telling off and bring him back down to earth
Just read on gpfor fans russell got 5 sec penalty for not being 10 lengths to safty car???
Good on max! It's about time russel got told how it is. He is annoying me for years now with his smart ass and hypocritical behaviour.
Russell wants to go up against max for the wdc .so russell pushed his luck at the weekend .he was try get oscar a penalty in the sprint race .then in quily got max droped one place now russell got the mad maxat him and russell botteled it .and max told russell what he was going do at start of the race now russell looks aright prat ???
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