He won in Qatar, but Verstappen was still angry with his grid penalty.
Max Verstappen claims he has lost respect for George Russell after the Mercedes driver successfully fought for his adversary to receive a grid penalty in Qatar.
Russell encountered a slow-moving Verstappen late in Q3, and expressed his anger on the radio.
He carried on that theme at the ensuing hearing, where Verstappen was judged guilty of driving too slowly and fined one spot, handing pole to Russell.
“I couldn’t believe that I got it,” the Dutchman remarked of the penalty. “But, in a way, I was thinking, well, I’m no longer startled by the world I live in. So you’re not satisfied with it.
“But at some point, you just need to flip the page. But it wasn’t particularly nice to witness, because I believe it was the first time someone was penalized for a sluggish lap.
“Actually, I was just trying to be pleasant. Maybe I shouldn’t be so kind. But the point is that, being polite, because at the conclusion of the season, everything is more or less set, and for me, I didn’t want to screw anyone over to prepare.
And by being courteous, you essentially pay a penalty. That’s exactly what I attempted to express. But I felt as if I were talking to a stone wall. So there wasn’t much that could be done, for whatever reason.”
He went on to say, “I think I really spoke about valid reasons for what happened, and it was clear that there were different scenarios going on around me, with people having colder tyres and stuff, so they had to push anyway, and I didn’t want to then cause a scene into a last corner.” Then nobody had a lap. So very, extremely unexpected.”
Verstappen made his feelings about Russell known.
“I was quite astonished by what was going on while sitting in the stewards’ lounge. To be honest, it’s quite frustrating because I believe we’re all here and have a great deal of respect for one another.
“And, of course, I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life, in my career, with people I’ve raced against, and I’ve never seen somebody try to screw someone over so badly. “For me, I lost all respect.”
Verstappen exacted revenge by passing Russell at the start and going on to win the race in overwhelming fashion, despite being pursued by Lando Norris until the McLaren driver earned a penalty/.
“It’s never straightforward,” he explained. “I suppose in the first stint, with Lando there, the margin was between 1.6 and 1.9 seconds the entire time, and you can’t afford to make a mistake.
“And he didn’t, and neither did I, and we were pushing flat out at one point. And it was actually extremely fun to drive because, of course, most of the races we do, the tires degrade and you have to manage a lot. It felt like you could push a little harder here, and the track, the layout, I really enjoyed it.
There is excellent grip on the course. So, sure, that was a fantastic stint. The second stint was more stop-start due to the safety cars, and the temperature in the tyres was also a concern, since my middle restart was not especially good.
“I tried something else, but the tyres were too cold, so I kept slipping and losing traction. So, it wasn’t perfect.
“Apart from that, the pace was good. We haven’t had a dry race like this in a long time, so I’m extremely pleased with the progress we’ve made since the beginning of the weekend.”
Verstappen was thrilled to see the RB20 back to winning form under normal conditions.
“The last few races in the dry, we haven’t been particularly strong on managing the tyres,” remarked the driver.
“That’s why I was a little cautious after qualifying.” But, yes, it has been great. I mean, it’s still not where I’d like it to be in terms of vehicle behavior compared to, say, last year.
“But at the very least, we are back in the race to win. So, if we can just learn from this year’s car, take the positives from last year, and strive to develop a stronger car, I am confident that we will be very competitive next year.”
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