Is it political? Is George marking his territory like a loyal dog? The spat between George Russell and Max Verstappen has come to dominate the final Formula One weekend of 2024 in Abu Dhabi.

In short, Max Verstappen was upset with George Russell last time out in Qatar for allegedly pushing the stewards to give the world champion a penalty for driving too slowly in qualifying. The FIA officials did eventually issue the highly unusual one place grid drop penalty for being 18 seconds under his minimum lap time delta.

Verstappen was incensed and on Sunday at the pre-drivers parade assembly was heard to say, “You and your FIA mates, I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done.”  Ted Kravitz of Sky reported “the actual quote was rather ruder than that…”

 

 

 

Verstappen accused of ‘bullying’

George Russell upped the anti coming into this weekend accusing Verstappen of being a “bully” and having threatened him with violence which Max denies. The row has engulfed the two teams with Christian Horner and Toto Wolff getting involved and now other competitors on the grid are having their say.

Christian Horner described Georges behaviour in Qatar as “hysterical” and suggested the way he should have dealt with the matter was “man to man” rather than manipulating the media. Toto Wolff responded suggesting the Red Bull boss was “yapping like a terrier” to which Horner quipped, “I’d rather be a terrier than a wolf,” talking up the characteristics of the dog’s loyalty. 

It was Russell who raised the stakes coming into the weekend by describing Verstappen as a “bully” and threatening to “put me on my f—— head in the wall.” This did raise the intensity of the personal dispute which to that point had remained as an objective disagreement over behaviour in the stewards room.

“I think Russell’s being a bit intense,” says Dutch F1 driver Giedo van der Garde to Viaplay. “He is really going way too far.” Red Bull driver mentor and advisor Dr. Helmut Marko accused Russell of lying. “I believe him when he says that Russell didn’t stick to the truth in his portrayal of events,” he told Sport1.

Wolff gets personal with Horner

 

 

 

Drivers feel George too ‘intense’

“Max is going to be a father, but that will only make his naturally strong character even stronger. He doesn’t let himself be manipulated and always says what he thinks,” Marko added.

There appears to be a weight of opinion in the paddock that Russell has taken things too far. “Russell reacted too sensitively,” said former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher. “He’s playing the drama queen a little too much.”

Yet Verstappen’s closest rival for the title this season believes Russell is wrong. “I don’t think Max is trying to intimidate anyone. He just says it as it is, even if these days people don’t always want to hear the truth,” said Lando Norris.

The awkwardness of the situation has dragged everyone into the debate and the Abu Dhabi weekend is one where the drivers spend more time together than is usual. At the drivers end of season dinner, George was reportedly late and so his colleagues deliberately left a seat for him next to Verstappen.

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Max offers olive branch

On his arrival Max greeted the Mercedes driver saying “Hi George,” but the British driver snubbed the olive branch and moved his chair to the other end of the table. Rumbles are emerging over George Russell’s role as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association with racing driver Indy Dontje questioning via Ziggo Sport whether George’s behaviour may now disqualify him from his role, representing all the F1 drivers.

“That’s a bit of a problem now, because in principle he should represent the group of drivers, but he has indicated that he has no respect for one of them,” said the GT3 driver.

One theory propounded in the paddock this weekend is that George is marking his territory following all the talk during the year of Mercedes courting Max Verstappen, should his Red Bull miss the boat when the new 2026 regulations come into force.

Whilst the FIA have shown no interest in the matter even though it could be argued the public spat is bringing the sport into disrepute. While Dontje suggests Russell’s motivation may well be political. “Maybe he knows that Max is coming that way in 2026,” he said making reference to the rumours he will sign for Mercedes in future.

Hamilton’s decline, the final act in Abu Dhabi

 

 

 

Dog marking territory theory

“If he ends up sitting next to Max, it’s war. Otherwise, he could even take his seat away. He is setting something up,” speculated the Dutch driver. When asked for the umpteenth time for his opinion on the matter, Dr. Marko preferred to focus on the job in hand. “We have to focus on the car,” he said. “If the drivers are fighting with each other, it has nothing to do with fixing the technical problems with our car.”

The dog marking his territory theory appears to be too remote in reality given Max will remain with his Red Bull team until at least the season after the new power units and regulations come into force. The reading of the tea leaves finds some consensus in the notion Russell was unhappy about missing out on pole in Qatar to Verstappen by a mere 0.063 seconds. This was accentuated by the fact that the dirty side of the grid in Qatar is more of a problem than at other race circuits and in the Sprint earlier in the weekend, those starting there on the whole had worse starts than those with odd numbered starting slots.

As if by magic the FIA stewards reversed the front two drivers with Russell getting the preferred starting slot for the Grand Prix on Sunday. Yet Russell was to suffer at the hand of the world champion who dropped a long way back as the cars approached the grid.

George was left sitting on pole as Verstappen trundled onto the P20 starting slot driving very slowly, then Asia to add insult to injury he performed four burnouts rather than his usual two. As the lights went out Verstappen blasted into the lead in turn one something Russell was not to recover from finishing the race in fourth and off the podium.

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Perez dramatic claim about RBR title challenge

The second Formula One practice session in Abu Dhabi ended in somewhat surprising fashion as Max Verstappen trailed home in P17. Even more of a shock was the fact that Sergio Perez was ahead of his team mate.

Just nine points in the last seven races from the Mexican driver has seen Red Bull Racing fall out of contention for the constructors’ championship which will be contested this weekend between Ferrari and McLaren.

Its not the first time Red Bull have had a poor start to the weekend and turned things around as last time out in Qatar Max was nowhere during the Sprint, yet when the cars came out of parc ferme, Red Bull made the right alterations giving Verstappen the tools to go on and win the Grand Prix…. READ MORE