Max Verstappen and George Russell’s intense recent exchanges have grown to be one of the biggest storylines in Formula 1.
The two came to blows at the Qatar Grand Prix, when the four-time champion held his British rival up during Q3, while on a warm-up lap.
He was subsequently punished to the tune of one-grid position – effectively engaging in a swap with Russell, before snatching the position back before turn one during the race.
Since then, their spat has become a bit of a war of words and resulted in some extreme comments from Verstappen.
That includes a crash threat towards Russell, which he would never do considering the hefty penalty associated with such actions.
Zak Brown ‘not quite sure’ on how FIA decided on Max Verstappen punishment
A one-place grid drop is an incredibly rare penalty and something which I cannot remember being handed out in the last 15 years at least.
It didn’t end up having any effect on the race at all, as Verstappen coasted to victory, but it left a far bigger scar off the track.
The reason why it all kicked off so much post-race, is because Russell felt like the ‘bully’ Verstappen needed to be faced up to, while the Dutchman felt that it was an overreaction.
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Speaking to Sky Sports F1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, McLaren boss Zak Brown was confused at how the FIA came to decide on the penalty handed out.
“It looked like a scary moment. At first, I thought George was on a lap, but it looked like he was on a prep lap. It’s tricky out there, you’re talking to the drivers, he’s on this lap, here’s the times.
“Certainly impeded him, but he wasn’t on a lap. One grid penalty, I can’t recall that ever getting seen. So, I’m not quite sure how that was applied. But it wasn’t one of our cars, so I wasn’t paying too much attention.”
Could there be more fireworks in Abu Dhabi between Verstappen and Russell?
It feels like a bit of a ‘gloves are off’ situation in the fight between Russell and Verstappen now, and it couldn’t have come at a much better time for fans.
Both Red Bull and Mercedes have virtually nothing to fight for in the last race of the season, so they can afford to be as aggressive as they would like to be.
They can get in the way of McLaren and Ferrari’s constructors’ championship battle if they would like to – but that won’t do them any favours heading into 2025.
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If they end up next to each other on the track, things could get feisty, but they won’t want to elevate the conflict to another level.
That’s when there could be serious punishment involved, with the requirement to set a precedent and maintain a good example for the younger generation of importance to the FIA and F1.
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