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Jordan denounces Verstappen/Russell row: 'It shouldn't be happening'
- Estéban den Toom
Two big fights were going on in Abu Dhabi. The fight for the constructors' championship and the fight between Max Verstappen and George Russell. Both drivers shared some harsh words about the other. As the conflict was widely reported, everyone had an opinion on it. However, Eddie Jordan thinks the issue should not be discussed.
The 'war of words' between George Russell and Max Verstappen continued during the Abu Dhabi GP, after Verstappen stated he lost 'all respect' he had for the Mercedes driver because of how he acted when they were in the stewards' room. Then, stories were shared about the drivers' special dinner and Alexander Wurz revealed it was the others' idea that the two should be next to each other in the GPDA's photo.
"It shouldn't be happening. We shouldn't even be talking about it. We should be talking about the race. We should be talking about Carlos Sainz. We should be talking about the season coming up and the new kids on the block, the young Doohan, etc. But anyway, we have to talk about the Max-George Russell affair because they live beside each other in Monaco, as indeed you do and I do. So we see them on fairly reasonable timings throughout the year. "
The Irishman, who announced that he has an "aggressive" form of cancer with metastases, gave his take on the feud between the two drivers: "When I go to a steward's room and when I'm lying like hell to the steward in the hope that they might believe me or I have reasonably firm evidence, because very seldom did I ever have firm evidence, but I'd be bluffing my way through everything that I could think of. I would expect the driver to shut the fuck up. It's not his business. He's the driver. It's like as if it didn't matter, but he needs to be there because he's a witness."
Russell's failure to do this irritated Verstappen. Jordan elaborated: "Now, why did George need to change that? Because that's the team principal's role or the team manager's role. And I'm sure Red Bull had it well in control. Obviously, George felt the need to speak. I'm not taking sides here because I'm sure Max did say that," Jordan said, referring to Russell's accusation that Verstappen would deliberately drive into the Mercedes driver at the start of the Qatar GP.
Jordan on 'cockiness' of Verstappen and Russell
Jordan has a strong opinion on that, too: "But incidentally, you know, I'm thinking back to my old days, Formula Ford, Formula 3. Say that, but incidentally, I'm thinking back to my old days in Formula Ford, Formula 3. I mean, how many people did you tell you, 'if you f****** come near me, I'm going to turn you over?' I mean, how many people have you said that to, David? Well, I've said it to hundreds. So it's a kind of a common language amongst racing drivers because it's a kind of, cock and feathers and whatever it is. So you have to exert your position."
This article was written in collaboration with Savannah Lenz
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