Max Verstappen says his feud with George Russell will be “sorted out” after a dramatic war of words ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The pair were talking about the plague coming into the final race of the season after an incident in qualifying at last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, with Russell accusing Verstappen as “bullying” and threatening to cause him to fall on purpose.
Verstappen denied the allegation in a press briefing with the Dutch media and fired further insults back at Russell's direction, after fueling the argument by saying he had “been -lost all respect” for the Mercedes driver due to his behavior in the Qatar stewards' hearing as a result of which the world champion was removed from pole position.
Russell turned down the first possible opportunity for reconciliation at a drivers-only dinner in Abu Dhabi on Thursday night, where he declined an invitation to sit next to Verstappen.
However, the following night at the Grand Prix Drivers Association end-of-season convention, the pair sat together in the middle of a group photo.
Former F1 driver Alex Wurz, who along with Russell is a GPDA director, posted the photo to his X account with the caption: “GPDA traditional end of season rally. #RacingUnited. For our fun, our safety & our fans.”
After qualifying fifth for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen said Sky Sports F1: “In the GPDA, we may have our disagreements but we are always fighting for the same cause in the end.
“It will be fine. We have our differences now. I think it's important that we all go on vacation now and spend some time with family and friends .
“We're just going to go at it again next year. It'll fix itself.”
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Max Verstappen says it's important to go on holiday and believes his rift with George Russell will sort itself out
Russell: Feud got more airtime than he deserved
Russell and Verstappen have known each other for more than a decade but have not had many battles in F1 due to the different performances of their cars.
They came to blows in the Azerbaijan Sprint Grand Prix 2023, which led to a debate immediately after the race.
Their recent dispute in Qatar has almost spilled over into the last race weekend in Abu Dhabi, with Russell qualifying seventh behind Verstappen in fifth.
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Sky Sports' Karun Chandhok analyzes how Max Verstappen lobbied for Lando Norris to receive a lift penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix and considers whether the rule needs to be changed
“I don't even think about it. We've got bigger and better things to worry about, which is racing, which is far more exciting,” Russell said. Sky Sports F1.
“Maybe it got a little more airtime than it deserved. In the end, we wanted to show that we as an organization (the GPDA), that we are united, despite opinions personal and that we are all consistent with what we want from the sport, the FIA and F1.
“That was the message we wanted to show.”
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner continued his criticism of George Russell after the Mercedes driver collided with Max Verstappen last weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix
The clash prompted some fiery words from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who used the opportunity to hit out at fellow team principal Christian Horner by calling him a “scary little greyhound”.
Asked about Wolff's comments, Horner said: “To be called a greyhound, is that such a bad thing?
“They are not afraid to try the big dogs. I would rather be a hound than a wolf.”
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Craig Slater takes a closer look at how Qatar's penalty level escalated between George Russell and Max Verstappen after George called the Red Bull driver a “bully”
Rosberg and Patrick on the Verstappen-Russell conflict
2016 F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg:
“It's a show of strength from George to stand up to Max. He doesn't have that.
“Max telling him (allegedly), 'I'm going to put your head in the wall'. 'Okay, you show me what you've got then'. We love him.”
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George Russell hit back at Max Verstappen's 'bully' after crash in Qatar, says someone needs to stand up to Red Bull driver
Former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick:
“Maybe what he's seeing is a little bit of that Lando-Max relationship and how Lando is putting a little bit into Max in some way.
“George is going to look, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to stand my ground.”
“It's also the end of the season and you don't have to see anyone for a while.”
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Lando Norris poked fun at Max Verstappen and George Russell's crash over the Red Bull driver's Qatar grid penalty, saying it's 'funny to watch'
Sky Sports F1 Abu Dhabi GP live schedule
Sunday 8 December
7.10am: F1 Academy Race Three
9.20am: F2 Feature Race
11.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Abu Dhabi GP in preparation
1pm: ABU DHABI Grand Prix
3pm: Checkered Flag: Abu Dhabi GP Response
4pm: Ted's Notebook
* also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Watch the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season – the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday's race at 1pm. Get Sky Sports F1 or stream with NOW
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