02/12/2024
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen remains angry at George Russell's push to have him penalised for qualifying incident.
"Karma's a wonderful thing," Gianpiero Lambiase told the Dutchman as he crossed the line to claim an emphatic victory in Abu Dhabi. And while the world champion was understandably delighted at the win, he remained angry at the incident his engineer was referring to.
Almost tripping up over the Red Bull in qualifying, Russell told his team that Verstappen's actions had been "super dangerous", and the Dutchman was subsequently reported to the stewards.
On a preparation lap - as was Russell - Verstappen had slowed to allow Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso through, however, the Mercedes driver, who was also on a preparation lap and behind the Red Bull, claimed that he had adhered to the delta and did not expect Verstappen to be on the racing line. The Briton said that if a car was going slow in a high speed corner, it should not be on the racing line.
The stewards admitted that the case was complicated as Verstappen was driving unnecessarily slowly, and while it was obvious the Dutchman was attempting to cool his tyres, he also could see Russell approaching. As a result Verstappen was given a one-place grid drop, a penalty previously unheard of, and one which promoted Russell to pole position.
Unusually, said the stewards, the incident had occurred when neither was on a push lap, and had Russell been on a push lap, the penalty would have most likely been the usual 3 grid position penalty, however in mitigation of penalty, they agreed it was obvious that the Mercedes driver had clear visibility of the Red Bull and that neither driver was on a push lap.
Ahead of the race Lambiase and Christian Horner both admitted that Verstappen was fired up by the penalty and was determined to nail Russell at the start. The Dutchman was true to his word.
However, despite winning, and Russell finishing fourth, 14s behind, at race end the Dutchman remained angry at the Briton's actions.
"I'm not surprised anymore in the world that I live in," he told reporters when asked about Russell's role in the penalty. "You're not happy with it, but at one point or another, you have to just turn the page.
"It wasn't very enjoyable to see that happen," he continued, "because I think that's the first time that on a slow lap someone has been penalised.
"Actually, I just tried to be nice," he said, referring to the fact that he had allowed other drivers to pass. "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.
"That's what I tried to explain," he said of his meeting with the stewards. "But I just felt like I was talking to a brick wall. So there's not much that was possible for whatever reason.
"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.
"I was quite surprised when sitting there in the stewards' room, what was all going on," he said of Russell. "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."
In a subsequent interview with Dutch TV, Verstappen said: "I find it ridiculous how he wants to make sure I get a penalty. You know what it is? He acts decent in front of the camera, but when you talk to him personally, he is a different person. I can't stand that. In that case you can f*** off."
"Yesterday's penalty was more based on hysterics from George, who has been quite hysterical this weekend," said Horner. "I think there was a little bit of gamesmanship going on.
"Let's just say Max wasn't enamoured with the decision," he added. "It was a very strange decision because obviously the circumstances of yesterday, both cars were on slow laps. I did feel that George and Mercedes made a big meal out of it and it was unprecedented on a slow lap, for Max to end up with a one-place penalty.
"But he converted it from the dirty side of the grid into one of his best starts of the year and was absolutely determined that wherever George was going to brake, he was going to brake later. And converted that grid position, the lead, by the end of Turn 1."
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