Max Verstappen ‘lost all respect’ for George Russell after Qatar GP penalty

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen has claimed he ‘lost all respect’ for Mercedes’ George Russell after he was slapped with a one-place grid penalty, ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.

Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool

Although Verstappen secured the win in Qatar, his ninth of the season, the Dutchman described displeasure towards Russell claiming the Mercedes driver tried to ‘screw’ him over in their meeting with the stewards.

This came as the four-time world champion was summoned, alongside Russell and both team representatives, to the stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly in qualifying, which the stewards deemed he had done so. 

However, the reigning world champion had some strong words against his fellow competitor claiming he had “never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard.” In the post-race press conference, he said:

Max about George: “I’ve been in the meeting room [stewards] many times in my career, I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard, and then I lost all the respect.”pic.twitter.com/97ot3Iuczm

— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) December 1, 2024

“Yeah, I was quite surprised when sitting there in the Stewards’ room, what was all going on. 

“Honestly, very disappointing because I think we’re all here, we respect each other a lot and of course, I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life, in my career with people that have raced and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. 

“And that for me, I lost all respect.”

Verstappen’s one-place grid penalty, stripping him of pole position, was the first time an F1 driver had been punished for driving unnecessarily slowly. As such, it swapped Verstappen and Russell on the grid, promoting the latter – who qualified second – into pole position. 

The Dutchman claimed he was trying to be nice as he “didn’t want to screw anyone over to prepare their lap” but he now believes he shouldn’t be nice the in future.  

The penalty Verstappen was given had been deemed a ‘complicated’ one by the race stewards as they understood neither Verstappen nor Russell was on fast laps, which would’ve given the former a three-place grid penalty had that been the case. 

“Simply lovely guys!” 👍

Max Verstappen celebrates a chaotic Qatar Grand Prix win 🎆 pic.twitter.com/rdy7AkdJyd

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) December 1, 2024

“Honestly, I mean, I couldn’t believe that I got it. But in a way, I was also like, yeah, I’m not surprised anymore in the world that I live in. So, yeah. You’re not happy with it,” added Verstappen about the one-place grid penalty.

“But at one point or another, you have to just turn the page. But, yeah, it wasn’t very enjoyable to see that happen, because I think that’s the first time that in a slow lap someone has been penalised. 

“While, actually, I just tried to be nice. So maybe I shouldn’t be nice. But the thing is that, you know, well, being nice, because at the end of the season, everything is more or less decided, for me especially, I didn’t want to screw anyone over to prepare their lap. 

“And by doing that, you know, being nice, basically you get a penalty. 

“And that’s what I tried to explain as well. But I just felt like I was talking to a brick wall. So there’s not much that was possible for whatever reason. 

“Well, I think I really spoke about valid reasons of what happened and it was clear cut that around me there were different scenarios going on as well, 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. and then, you know, no one had a lap. 

“So very, very surprising.”

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Esteban Ocon expected to stand down from Alpine
• Verstappen claims victory in controlled F1 Qatar GP
• Verstappen loses Qatar GP pole with one-place grid drop in ‘complicated’ penalty
• Verstappen takes first pole since Austria at Qatar GP pipping Russell by 0.055s
• Piastri wins sprint race as Norris allows pass in Qatar GP F1 Sprint
• Norris storms to final sprint quali pole in 2024 at Qatar GP

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.