'No Regrets': Verstappen Doubles Down On Russell Criticism

Thursday, 05 December 2024 at 13:27

Max Verstappen asserted he still stands by everything that he said about George Russell following the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.

Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen made a few controversial comments about George Russell as he was extremely frustrated with the behavior of the Mercedes driver in the stewards' room after Qatar Grand Prix qualifying.

According to the Dutchman's words, the 26-year-old Briton did everything he could to try and get Verstappen penalized for an incident that didn't at all deserve a punishment.

The Red Bull Racing driver said he has never seen someone trying to "screw someone over" that hard in his life, and he has been in the stewards' room many times before.

Verstappen also added that he cannot stand Russell as a person as he behaves completely differently in private compared to when there are cameras around.

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Speaking to the media during the press conference ahead of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Red Bull Racing F1 driver was asked whether he still stood by everything that he said, and he responded:

"No regrets at all, because I meant everything I said. And it is still the same, if I had to do it again maybe I would have said even more, knowing the outcome of the race itself."

"I still can't believe that someone can be like that in the stewards' room - to me, that is so unacceptable."

"We're all racing drivers and we all have a lot of respect for each other, we even play sports together, we travel together."

Verstappen admitted there, of course, are some very tense moments between the drivers sometimes, like he had with Lando Norris this year, but he never expected someone to lie in order to get the punishment for his rival.

"Of course, you have moments where you come together, crash, or whatever, and you're not happy."

"But in my whole career, I've never experienced what I experienced in the stewards' room in Qatar, and, for me, that was really unacceptable."

"It has nothing to do with him doing the GPDA. I never expected someone to actually try and get someone a penalty, lying about doing what I was doing; I hadn't influenced him. It was really not nice and actually very shocking."