Damon Hill drops a 3-word reaction to George Russell's dig at Max Verstappen about his penalty points
Former F1 world champion Damon Hill gave a short reaction to Mercedes driver George Russell's subtle dig at Red Bull driver Max Verstappen about the latter's penalty points situation ahead of the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix main race on Sunday. The pair will be starting alongside each other on the track in Montreal after Russell took the pole position away from Verstappen's hands in the final few seconds of qualifying.
The Dutch driver had looked set to claim another pole position in the 2025 season after he finished ahead of McLaren driver Oscar Piastri. However, the Brit pulled off yet another stunning lap around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the second year running to take pole position.
In his post-qualifying interview, George Russell was delighted with his lap and even took a dig at Max Verstappen's penalty points situation as the latter is just a point away from getting a race ban. Here's what he said:
"Yeah, today was awesome in front of this amazing crowd as well, to get the pole. I mean, to be honest, that last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life because on my steering wheel, you've got the delta, and I just saw every corner I was going one tenth quicker, one tenth quicker."
"I mean, I've got a few more points on my license to play with. So, yeah, let’s see."
Damon Hill, on his Instagram Story, gave a three-word reaction to George Russell's dig about Verstappen and said:
"Nothing to lose."
George Russell and Max Verstappen have had a tense dynamic ever since their verbal spat at the end of the 2024 season in Qatar.
George Russell previews his chances of winning in Canada
Mercedes driver George Russell stated that his chances of winning the Canadian GP would depend on the track temperatures, given that the W16 operates well in the colder conditions.
Speaking in the post-qualifying press conference, the three-time F1 race winner said:
"To be honest, we had good race pace on Friday, but it depends on the temperature. In practice, it was five degrees cooler than it was today, and the car was easily in its sweet spot. Now, it can easily go the other way tomorrow in the race.
"If the sun comes out—it’s a 2:00 race, it was a 4:00 qualifying today—that makes quite a bit of difference. So, it’s not going to be an easy race and, you know, of course, got some really quick guys around me. We don’t know if it’s going to be a one-stop or a two-stop, so it won’t be straightforward."
This marked Russell's first pole position of the 2025 season. He has consistently been putting in fast laps throughout the year, but is yet to convert it into a race win.