MAX VERSTAPPEN has claimed he has ‘lost all respect’ for George Russell in a scathing attack.
The Red Bull driver, 27, and the Brit were involved in an incident in Qatar during qualifying on Saturday.
Verstappen was ihanded a one-place grid penalty for the Qatar Grand Prix after he was ruled to have driven too slowly during Q3, which saw Russell forced to take avoiding action as he approached Verstappen’s car.
That meant Russell started in pole position on the front row, with Verstappen relegated to second.
Despite that, Verstappen ended up winning the grand prix, after overtaking Russell in the opening corner.
The Dutchman controlled the race, which was heavily disrupted by safety cars, before going through in first place on the chequered flag.
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After the race, Verstappen took aim at Russell in the stewards’ room.
“I have a lot of respect for a lot of drivers, but after last night I completely lost that respect for him,” Verstappen told Viaplay.
“I just thought it was ridiculous how he tried to force a penalty on me. And I was heavily pissed at him for that.”
Verstappen also claimed the Mercedes racer was two-faced, before he went into an x-rated rant.
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“He always does it very nicely here in front of the camera, but then when you’re inside with him in person, it’s just a different person,” Verstappen continued.
“I can’t stand that and it’s actually better for him to f*** off. I don’t want to get involved in this.”
Verstappen wasn’t the only heated in Qatar.
Lewis Hamilton had a meltdown and rowed with his team after trying to quit.
The seven-time world champion threw his toys out of the pram as he suffered a puncture and a penalty in his second to last race in his Mercedes.
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Hamilton’s race engineer Peter Bonnington said on the team radio: “We have got a drive-through penalty in the pit lane.
“It looks like you forgot to press the button on that first time behind the Safety Car.”
Hamilton said: “Retire the car, mate. Park the car, mate.
Bonnington replied: “Negative.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
