Theres an edge between Mercedes and Red Bull Racing dating back to the days of the Hamilton/Verstappen title battle during the 2021 Formula One season. With the imminent departure of Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari it now appears the newly appointed team leader George Russell will take up the mantle as chief agent provocateur for the silver arrows.

Last time out in Qatar, the rift between the teams and their drivers opened up when during qualifying Russell and Verstappen found themselves on the same piece of asphalt. Max was on his second cool down lap in Q3 following Fernando Alonso who was also preparing for a push lap.

Russell next on track was on a different kind of tyre preparation programme and was traveling a lot more quickly than the Red Bull and Aston Martin up ahead. Despite being able to see the slower moving car up ahead, Russell pressed on arriving on the back of the RB20 at turn 14.

 

 

 

Verstappen threatens a response

The Mercedes driver was forced to take avoiding action, running off the track and complaining over team radio that was “so dangerous.” Later in the stewards office George was accused of actually pressing for Max to be penalised, rather than the passive witness which would usually be a third party role these occasions.

Verstappen was given the unusual penalty of a one place grid drop not for blocking the Mercedes’ driver but for driving too slowly, something Yuki Tsuoda had been penalised for in Sprint qualifying but merely given a reprimand.

“The fact that I have to go [to the stewards’ office] is already very strange to me. Otherwise, next time I’ll just drive flat out too and pretend to crash [into the other car],” said Max before hearing the stewards decision.

“He [Russell] should have braked. I braked. Just like the cars in front of me. And I don’t want to screw them. I’m honestly a bit done with all of this at the end of the season.”

Russell breaks silence after Verstappen fallout

 

 

 

Russell under fire

If Max was mad following his visit to the stewards office this became incandescent with rage on hearing his punishment. In the drivers’ pre-parade assembly room he accosted George fuming as Ted Kravitz revealed during his notebook.

“You and your FIA buddies, I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done’. I think the actual quote was rather ruder than that. I’m not going to say what that was. But that seems to be the confrontation that Horner referred to,” Kravitz said.

When asked about the incident, Christian Horner out assembled media personnel: “Let’s just say he wasn’t enamoured with the decision. It was a very strange decision, because obviously the circumstances of qualifying, both cars were on slow laps, and I did feel that George and Mercedes made a big meal out of it.”

Horner claimed it was unprecedented for a driver to be penalised as  Max had been on a slow lap during qualifying suggesting “one could argue that perhaps George was driving a little too quickly on a slow lap with two cars in front of him. Maybe he was driving recklessly.”

Video: F1 driver shoves FIA president

 

 

 

Mind games continue on Sunday

The Red Bull boss stated the penalty “was more based on hysterics from George, who has been quite hysterical this weekend. I think there was a little bit of gamesmanship going on in that.”

The mind games continued on Sunday even before the race began as Verstappen now in P2 behind the Mercedes driver drive particularly slowly as he approached the grid. It appeared like Russell had to wait an age before Max pulled alongside him and the rest of the field then began for form up.

“Max,” said Horner, “was absolutely determined that he was going to win; wherever George was going to brake, he was going to brake later, and he converted that grid position into the lead by the end of Turn 1.”

The hunted became the hunter come race day as a wing mirror became detached from Alex Albon’s car. It lay outside the racing line along the start/finish straight and race control decided to cover it with yellow weed flags.

Sergio Perez announces early retirement

 

 

 

The hunted becomes the hunter

Max lifted giving up 7 tenths of lap time in the final sector, but as he rounded turn one he noticed Lando Norris behind him was a lot closer than at the final turn. Verstappen radioed in asking his team to check if Norris had lifted as the flag required and was informed by his engineer GP: “Lando – did – not – lift.”

The resulting 10 second stop and go penalty ruined N orris race give it was applied as the cars had bunched up behind the safety car.

“I think with Max having spent a little bit of intimate time with the stewards on Saturday, he was very keen that it was looked at thoroughly,” Horner said.

When asked if his star driver studied the F1 regulations intensely, the Red Bull boss replied: “It’s part of being a driver.” He pointed to the incident in the race where Max needed to know the rules in detail when the message came that the safety car was pulling in at the end of the lap.

Michael Schumacher bodyguard in court

 

 

 

Verstappen knows rules intimately

Yet the lights failed to go out and Max dutifully continued properly even though it ruined his preparation for the restart and almost handed the lead of the race to Norris. 

“You’re then supposed to keep a distance to the back of the car,” Horner said. “That meant Verstappen couldn’t prepare for the restart as he normally would; he didn’t know if a restart was actually coming.

“He was following the instruction of the safety car, basically, and then it came into the pits, which obviously then compromised him,” Horner said.

“But he was still fortunate to stay ahead of Lando down at Turn 1.”

With the Red Bull having turned around its fortunes following a mediocre Sprint event, Verstappen went on to dominate the race. The big loser in the “he said, she said” handbags at dawn tired out to be Lando Norris who drive through the field after his penalty claiming a single point for P10 and the fastest lap of the race.

Former F1 race director back at the controls

 

 

 

New F1 race director under fire

Ruis Marques was minding his own business running the FIA junior racing categories when out of the blue he received a call up on high from Formula One. Neils Wittich who had been recruited to replace Michael Massi following uproar from Mercedes who believed the Australian race director manipulated the result of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The role of F1 race director has come under increased scrutiny since the passing of long standing FIA official Charlie Whiting one the eve of the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. Marques is the fifth race director of the sport in five years and appeared to handle his opening weekend in Las Vegas with aplomb.

Drivers spoke positively about the new man in charge following their briefing with race control where they requested a couple of changes to track limits which didn’t make sense with the walls defining the edge of the circuit along the Strip… READ MORE