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Liam Lawson talks about Verstappen and Russell at F1 dinner
- Nicole Mulder
Liam Lawson has opened up about the GPDA drivers' dinner organised in Abu Dhabi that almost all Formula 1 drivers attended. Max Verstappen's new teammate says exactly what happened when George Russell arrived and refused to sit next to the Red Bull Racing driver, with whom he was arguing at the time.
Lawson is initially unsure if he should tell the story, but decides to do it anyway. "I'll tell you then because it was f****** funny," laughs the brand-new Red Bull Racing driver to the Pitstop podcast. "We rock up, and we are at this big table. Me and Yuki got there together, and we weren't the first people there, there was something like six or seven people there."
Lawson: 'Everyone left the seats next to Max vacant'
He continued: "But as the table was filling up, that side of the table was pretty much all full. Opposite me was Max, and then there were three chairs to the left at the end of the table that was left, and George hadn't arrived yet. So we were like: this is perfect, we're just going to save that spot right next to Max for him.
"Then George arrived, and we were all like, 'Hey!' and greeted him. Then Max said, 'Mate, we've saved a seat for you.' And George just picks up the chair and walks to the other side of the table with Lewis at the other end of the table. We were all like, 'Oh my god.' We thought this was going to be funny, but it wasn't funny. Well, kind of funny for us," Lawson continued.
Asked if Russell said anything else to Verstappen, the New Zealander replied, "Nothing. Nothing at all. He went around the whole table first to greet everyone and we thought when he came back he would sit next to Max. But he only came back to take that seat."
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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