Verstappen plays down Russell's jabs: 'He insinuates a lot of things!'
F1 News
After their feud intensified yesterday, following the Qatar GP events that took place during qualifying and in the Steward's room, Max Verstappen and George Russell still aren't on speaking terms. However, it is safe to say that the Dutchman cares very little if whether or not he and his Mercedes colleague eventually patch things up.
Does Verstappen want to be on good terms with Russell?
"We don't have to be best friends," the Dutchman pragmatically opened to the Dutch media present at the Yas Marina Circuit. "That's not what I'm here for, to be best friends with him, that that's my goal in the paddock. So that's why it doesn't do so much for me".
Speaking on whether or not he needed to make things good with the Mercedes driver, Verstappen dismissed the thought, and he gave his reasons as to why. "Not necessarily. Anyway, when someone acts like that towards you at the stewards, I'm done with it for a while."
During Russell's moment with the press, he pointed out that Verstappen, as the Briton saw it, was unable to cope with adversity. GPblog approached the four-time World Champion about those statements, to which the Red Bull driver replied, "But it has nothing to do with that. It's just about how he acted with the stewards. It has nothing to do with anything else. I was very relaxed. Look, I had already won the championship. Only he had to be so dramatic to try to start first like that. He was screaming to get a place up front. For him, that might make a lot of difference".
Is Russell taking things too far with the 2021 jab?
Russell also mentioned the controversial 2021 season and cited various moments in it as evidence that Verstappen could not deal with having the fight taken to him. He even took things a bit further by stating that if the Dutchman had lost the '21 title fight "unfairly", Michael Masi, ousted FIA Race Director, would have to fear for his life.
The Red Bull driver downplays the importance of Russell's statements and claims the Briton 'makes no sense at all'. "He quotes a lot of things that you can't be truthful about. Well, things like that, what does that mean? But things like that, so that happens with the stewards, too. He insinuates a lot of things which make no sense at all. And, of course, he does use them in his words", Verstappen closed.
This article was made with the assistance of Cas van de Kleut.
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!