Horner: 'Russell has been quite hysterical this weekend'
F1 News
- Estéban den Toom
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has slammed George Russell for being 'hysterical' about the incident between Max Verstappen and the Mercedes driver on Saturday. On qualifying day in Qatar, Max Verstappen took pole position but was eventually dropped one place. Horner thinks this was only because Russell reacted 'hysterically' about the incident to the stewards.
After Sunday's race in Qatar, Verstappen was already saying that he had lost his respect for Russell. The Red Bull driver was not happy with the way the Mercedes driver behaved in conversation with the stewards yesterday. During qualifying, Russell complained that he'd almost crashed his car due to Verstappen's positioning on his cool-down lap.
Horner on Russell's 'gamesmanship':
Verstappen explained to the stewards that he wanted to create a gap to have more free air in order to have a better lap. Horner thinks Russell's complaining helped him with the stewards' verdict.
"Yesterday's penalty was more based on hysterics from George, who has been quite hysterical this weekend. There was a little bit of gamesmanship going on in that," the Red Bull team principal shared his thoughts. In the end, the penalty did not make a difference, as Verstappen could overtake the Mercedes driver into Turn 1 after the start, and ended up winning the Grand Prix. Russell eventually finished the race in fourth position.
This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon
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