George Russell has accused Max Verstappen of “crossing a line” following the fallout that has come from the stewards’ hearing over a qualifying incident between them last time out in Qatar.
Both drivers were summoned to the stewards on Saturday night as Verstappen was investigated for driving unnecessarily slowly on a cooldown lap in Q3, with Russell feeling he had been impeded by the Red Bull man. The Dutchman was subsequently handed a one-place grid penalty, demoting him down to second on the grid, while Russell was promoted up into pole position.
Verstappen went on to take victory in Sunday’s Grand Prix – with Russell crossing the line in fourth – but in the post-race press conference the four-time world champion stated that he had “lost all respect” for the Mercedes driver.
“I’ve been in that [stewards’] meeting room many times in my life, in my career, with people that I’ve raced and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard,” Verstappen said. “And that for me… I lost all respect.”
With the paddock now assembled for media day at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Russell was quizzed for the first time on those comments in Qatar. “For me, we fight hard on the track, we fight hard in the stewards’ [room] and it’s never personal,” the 26-year-old said.
“And what happened at the weekend, from my side to Max, was not personal, the same way as in the race, Max telling his team to check for Lando [Norris] with the yellow flag is not personal from Max to Lando. It’s part of racing, but the words he said [are] totally unnecessary. He’s crossed a line and I’m not going to accept it, so somebody has to stand up to someone who thinks he’s above the law.”