Max Verstappen was forced to abandon the flying race during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix and ensured his dissatisfaction with George Russell was made known in a Red Bull radio message
Max Verstappen expressed his disagreement with George Russell in a key radio message during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver was hampered during the first flying lap of Friday’s session. As he put his foot on the ground, he came across a Mercedes and a Ferrari on the track moving much slower.
The Ferrari managed to escape quite quickly. But Russell suffered Verstappen’s wrath when the Dutchman felt he had to slow down and skip laps to avoid the risk of a collision.
“Good,” he said on the radio with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He then asked race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase which Mercedes driver had hindered him.
Lambiase did not elaborate but replied:
“I wonder what those two are doing. Please be a little more polite to him, Max. Don’t drag him into turn 1.”
Verstappen clearly wanted to add to his initial complaint by making it clear that he was not at all impressed with Russell’s position on the track. “What an idiot,” he said of the Englishman. It was no different for the Red Bull driver as he easily secured a safe passage out of Q1. And this weekend as a whole promises to be a major step forward in his F1 career as the Dutchman needs just three points to mathematically secure a third world title.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s match, Russell expressed his admiration for the work Verstappen has done this season to dominate the grid. But with Red Bull having no competition in 2023, the Briton believes his rival will not get much satisfaction from his success.
He told the Press Association: “When participating in a big sport, if the pressure is not on, you will have a comfortable experience. “And I am sure that the fight for the championship in 2021 pleases him more because it is a real battle. This year he has been excellent and there is no doubt about that. Week after week he has performed at such a high level.
“But we see the strategy reviewed before every race and the prediction every weekend is that he will go away. He can drive at 90 per cent and still win by 10 seconds, and he knows that.”
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