Max Verstappen accused of 'ramping up playing the victim off the track' by F1 veteran
Max Verstappen has ramped up the aggression on track, playing the victim card off of it, according to Martin Brundle. The comments come in the aftermath of a war of words that ensued between the Dutch driver and George Russell on Thursday.
Throughout the day, accusations were thrown left, right, and center by Verstappen and Russell, as the duo even resorted to calling each other a bully. All of this does, however, come against the backdrop of Verstappen's recent claims in the media about a certain bias in the sport with which everything is covered, and the bias tends to be based on nationality.
The back and forth between Verstappen and Russell has gotten heated, with the duo reportedly not wanting to sit next to each other during the F1 drivers' dinner on Thursday night.
Weighing in on the topic and trying to make sense of the somewhat contradicting claims made by both drivers, Brundle told Sky Sports that recently Verstappen had ramped up the aggression on the track and played the victim card off it, and it is working for him. He said, via PlanetF1:
“Our audience will decide who they take at face value. How I see this is that Max has ramped up the aggression on the track and ramped up playing the victim off the track, and it’s working because he’s got everybody on the run. He’s got everybody on edge, whether it’s the media, whether it’s other teams, whether it’s other drivers, and it’s, it’s, it’s how he goes about his race."
Brundle added:
“We know he’s always been aggressive on the race track. He knows the rule book. He knows how to control his car, brilliant at controlling his car in wheel to wheel situations, and every time he does it, it plays out for him.”
FIA needs to intervene in the Max Verstappen-George Russell battle
Martin Brundle felt that the FIA might have to intervene before the situation got out of hand between Max Verstappen and George Russell. The former driver felt that only the Brit had been able to stand up to the Dutchman these days, as every other driver had "wilted."
Talking about how it was important for the FIA to intervene, Brundle said, via PlanetF1:
“George is the only one brave enough to do that with Max at the moment, everybody else has just wilted. The FIA should be getting involved in this and sorting it out, if they weren’t busy trying to sort themselves out."
Brundle added:
"But yes, I do believe that they should be more involved in this. But I’ve said for years, haven’t I? I don’t understand how the drivers can be best mates on social media and then race wheel-to-wheel on the track. It can’t work out in the end.”
It's safe to say that the George Russell-Max Verstappen back and forth is going to see the two drivers trade a few more jabs this weekend before we call time on the season.