Toto Wolff has weighed in on the ongoing spat between Max Verstappen and George Russell, after the former accused the Mercedes driver of lying to the stewards in Qatar.
After qualifying on pole for the Grand Prix, Verstappen was later penalised for driving “unnecessarily slowly” on his preparation lap and hindering Russell.
The stewards handed him a one-place grid penalty, forcing Verstappen to start from second-place grid slot off the racing line at the Lusail International Circuit.
Verstappen later confronted Russell over their matter, having felt he defended his move too harshly. The Dutchman later said that he lost respect for Russell in the post-race press conference.
Christian Horner claimed that the stewards imposed the penalty on Verstappen because of “hysterics” from Russell, in what appeared to be a follow-up from the Dutchman’s comments whereby he claimed the Mercedes driver argued too aggressively to get him a penalty.
During Russell’s media session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff interjected and responded to comments made by Horner, according to journalist Adam Cooper.
Toto Wolff claims Christian Horner comments about George Russell ‘crosses the line’
It is thought that Russell wanted to avoid starting on the dirty side of the grid on the right-hand side, so advocated heavily for the stewards to give Verstappen a grid drop which would see him promoted to the left-hand side where there was more grip.
Despite the penalty for Verstappen, the Red Bull driver managed to overtake him off the line and manage the lead of the race to take his ninth victory. In the aftermath of their spat, Wolff has taken issue with the comments made by Horner.
“There is a thing between drivers, and this is George and Max, and I don’t want to get involved in that. But if the other team principal calls George ‘hysteric’ this is where he crosses the line for me…”
Wolff on Horner: “Why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver? How does that come? But you know, thinking about it, yapping little terrier. Always something to say.”
Max Verstappen accuses George Russell of lying to the stewards
Verstappen doubled down on his comments in the Abu Dhabi Drivers’ Press Conference and claimed that Russell had lied to the stewards.
The Dutchman was irate that he pulled off a “dangerous” manoeuvre when he was trying to avoid other cars around him, including Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
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Since neither driver is fighting for places in the championship, Verstappen felt Russell was advocating too harshly for a penalty when it didn’t matter.
Russell believed his avoiding action potentially damaged his car and cost him time, which given the close margin Verstappen set pole by (0.063s), is likely to have contributed to his final run.
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