On the face of it, you could be forgiven if you think George Russell was miffed about missing out on pole in Qatar by 0.063s to Max Verstappen.
Mercedes had been quick all weekend and suddenly after having a disasterous Sprint race, there he was: Verstappen quickest of all in Q3.
I rode onboard with Verstappen throughout most of that session through F1 TV just to see if Red Bull had cured their inexplicable understeer problems. Both him and Sergio Perez wanted more front end in the car, which is why the Mexican treated the Sprint like a ‘test sesson’ and wanted clean air exiting the pits (although, that backfired when Franco Colapinto caught Perez napping at the pit exit light).
Helmut Marko explained that Red Bull effectively cured their ‘Achilles heel’ by making adjustments to their setup between the Sprint and qualifying, and looking at the onboards Verstappen was able to ‘hang on’ to the RB20 through the sweeping corners a lot easier without making corrections on the steering wheel.
The benefit of using F1 TV is that you get to hear the entire open radio channel between driver and engineer uncensored, and it was clear before the final run in Q3 that Red Bull was very conscious of holding up other cars. Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase warned him of the gaps between him and the cars behind, including Fernando Alonso and Russell, along with the delta time stipulated by the Race Director.
After Alonso powered past, Russell then charged through and had to avoid causing a collision. Neither of the cars was on a slow lap, however, Verstappen was on a slightly different tyre warm-up strategy to Russell and was going slower. The stewards investigated the incident after the session and found Verstappen at fault for driving ‘unnecessarily slowly’ and applied the usual tariff reserved for impeding, which is a three-place grid penalty, but with mitigating circumstances to drop it to a one-place penalty.
Verstappen was irate while Russell had walked away with what he wanted; the Dutchman starting on the opposite and dirty side of the grid which inherently puts you at a disadvantage. A fired-up Verstappen wasn’t having it, making swift work of Russell on the run down to Turn 1 by doing his signature ‘run him out of road’ move that will soon be banned under the updated racing guidelines.
It makes you question whether is was all worth it from Russell? In reality that looks like it was about much more than a grid slot.
George Russell wants Mercedes onside ahead of 2025 contract talks
Russell is under contract until the end of the 2025 season with Mercedes and it’s no secret that he is under pressure to perform. With Hamilton leaving, he has become the defacto team leader while they prepare Andrea Kimi Antonelli for glory.
Coming into 2024 there were questions over whether Russell could lead Mercedes after a series of errors last year, including a crash-ridden Canadian Grand Prix and shunting in the final laps of Singapore. For a driver that was in his fifth F1 season, it was a lot of rookie errors.
When Red Bull’s internal fracas kicked off at the start of the season, Toto Wolff saw it as an opportunity to lure Verstappen away from the chaos to join the Silver Arrows. Although nothing has ever formally been said, Wolff admitted that he gets on ‘very well’ with Verstappen and effectively put their feud in 2021 to one side.
READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
It’s not unusual for a team principal to try and pry a driver from a rival team, especially when Verstappen could be available in the near future, but it said a lot about where Mercedes’ ambitions lie and whether they think it can be achieved post-Hamilton.
For his part, Russell was being courted by Red Bull after Christian Horner praised him in the media. The only problem is, Russell does not see Red Bull as the place to be in 2026 when F1 adopts new regualtions.
Russell has expressed early confidence about where Mercedes stands (via F1.com), and given they have dominated the current hybrid era that was introduced in 2014, you have to bet that this will be a more credible project to be part of compared to Red Bull’s undertaking.
Where does the war of words in Abu Dhabi fit into this?
Verstappen was rightly miffed about Russell aggressively arguing his case to the stewards in Qatar and effectively getting them to issue a penalty.
The Dutchman said what he did was “dangerous” and even accused him of lying to the stewards in a bid to make the incident look more serious than it was. Hamilton once landed himself in hot water for lying to the stewards, so it’s a serious accusation which can have big consequences.
In an extraordinary press conference at Mercedes, Russell defended his actions and took aim at Verstappen by saying “people have been bullied by Max for years,” which plays into the recent narrative surrounding the Dutchman’s on-track conduct.
All the while, Wolff was keeping watch of proceedings and interjected when he was asked about his thoughts on the spat.
Wolff took issue with comments made by Horner regarding Russell in the aftermath of Qatar, branding him a “yapping terrier” in the process (via Autosport). He also explained that team principals must provide a nuanced approach to these issues, and that Horner’s unequivocal support of Verstappen does not help resolve problems.
Russell effectively got his team onside with his remarks, at one point even referencing the controversial Abu Dhabi 2021, by getting Wolff to defend him. It’s unlikely to impress the Verstappens, who are known for being tribal when it comes to these issues, and could impact whether he wants to join Mercedes in the future.
Motorsport can be home to petty fights, as we have seen between Red Bull and McLaren this season. But in the wider context, this spat has much bigger implications for both parties involved.
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