F1 2024: Verstappen Says He Has 'Lost All Respect' For Russell, Here's Why

During a post-race press conference at the 2024 Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix, Red Bull's Max Verstappen said that he has lost all respect for Mercedes driver George Russell. Russell noted an incident with Verstappen in the final part of the qualifying session, which resulted in a one-place grid penalty for Verstappen for the race.

Verstappen's lap time was good enough for a pole position, however, he lost the position after the stewards penalised him for driving unnecessarily slowly ahead of the Mercedes of Russell. This helped Russell inherit the pole position as he was the second fastest in Q3. "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," said Verstappen describing his summon to the stewards’ room

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The Dutch driver also told Viaplay television that Russell "always does it very nicely here in front of the camera, but then when you’re inside with him in person, it’s just a different person." In the end, it was Verstappen who managed to take the lead from Russell in turn 1 itself, and then battled Lando Norris until the McLaren driver was handed a 10 second stop and go penalty for excessive speed while yellow flags were waved.

Verstappen has already won the 2024 Formula 1 drivers' championship, his fourth in a row, while the battle for the constructors' championship is still on between McLaren and Ferrari, sitting on 640 and 619 points respectively, with a total of 44 points up for grabs at the Abu Dhabi GP this weekend.

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