Max Verstappen blasts George Russell for 'acting very nicely in front of the camera but being a completely different person' in front of the stewards
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen wasn't pleased with Mercedes driver George Russell and described him as a 'completely different person' in front of the camera than in front of the stewards. The two were closely matched in the qualifying session on Saturday night as the four-time world champion just edged the British driver by a mere 0.055s for pole position.
However, the Dutch driver faced an investigation for blocking Russell in the final sector before the last runs in the Q3 session. While the Mercedes driver complained that he was blocked by the 27-year-old which cost him time despite being on a slow lap, the Dutchman claimed that he failed to follow the delta time as he was avoiding a crash with two cars ahead of him.
However, Verstappen was eventually given a one-place grid penalty that dropped him behind George Russell in P2. Speaking with ViaPlay after the race, the Red Bull driver did not mince his words. When asked if he would have a calm chat with Russell, he answered:
"Not right now. You know what it is? He always acts very nicely here in front of the camera, but then when you're in there in person [in the steward's room] it's just a completely different person, I can't stand that. Then it's actually better to just f**k off as well because I don't have to deal with that."
However, the penalty did not affect Max Verstappen's result too much given he passed the Mercedes man off the line.
Max Verstappen analyzes his Qatar GP race win
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that it was a "very good" race for him after winning his ninth race of the season at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.
Speaking with F1TV, the four-time world champion said:
"It was a very good race. Of course, already yesterday in qualifying the car was a lot better, and today that first stint was very, very fast. Lando and I were within 1.8s of each other the whole time, pushing each other and honestly, it was a lot of fun out there.
"This track has a lot of grip and this year the tires were really holding on, so that was a lot of fun to be really pushing the tire. We went really long on that first stint. After that there were a few Safety Car moments that you had to take care of, but very happy."
Max Verstappen won in dry conditions for the first time since the Spanish GP in late June as his win in Brazil came in wet conditions.