‘It is pathetic!’ George Russell says Max Verstappen ‘spit out his dummy’ after their sprint failure in Baku… just hours after insisting there was NO need to clear the air after their row in the paddock
- The two drivers collided during the sprint race during the Azerbaijan GP race weekend
- The 25-year-old had previously been magnanimous about the couple’s bust-up
- But on Thursday he did not hold back and called out Verstappen’s possible hypocrisy
George Russell made a remarkable change of mind just hours after saying there was ‘no need’ to clear the air with Max Verstappen following their arrest in Baku on Saturday, calling the world champion ‘pathetic’ and his behavior ‘a bit bad” in the aftermath of the argument.
The two drivers collided during the sprint of the race weekend, with Russell’s Mercedes taking a chunk out of the Dutchman’s Red Bull in the first three corners.
Verstappen was largely at fault after refusing to allow space for the British driver and later regaining the lost position from Russell, but remained furious, furious about his radio and then confronted his rival after the race, calling him a ‘d*** head’.
Rusell had told assembled journalists earlier Thursday that he would ‘shake his hand’ if he faced Verstappen, despite the two-time champion calling him ‘Princess George’ in his own press.
But comments made to Ted Kravitz Sky Sports struck a different note.
George Russell (pictured) claimed Max Verstappen ‘spit out his dummy’ in response to their Saturday sprint race scrap
Verstappen (left) angrily confronted Russell after the race, calling him a ‘d***head’
The Dutchman got a piece out of his Red Bull (right) after refusing to give up space to Britain’s W14 in Baku
“It was all a bit pathetic,” Russell said, calling out Verstappen’s hypocrisy.
“I think something you learn as a child is that if you’re going to give something, you have to be willing to take it.
“He’s done his best to make moves like that and race hard and hard and it’s kind of bad to see him spit his pop out when it was the first time he probably got something back in the same regard.
“There wasn’t really anything to say on my part,” Russell added, making it clear that he wanted to move on.
“I thought it was good racing, exciting racing and that’s all that happened that weekend. We are both racing drivers, we have both been in the sport for a long time and we have a lot of experience.
“We’ll have a chat, everything’s fine, move on, and I think we’ll laugh about it one day.”
Despite the fiery altercations between the two, Verstappen also insisted that there was no bad blood.
Despite the clash, Verstappen still finished third, winning back the position from Russell
But the two-time world champion saved most of his post-race anger for the sprint format itself
“Maybe people would like to hear that, but no, it’s absolutely fine,” said Verstappen.
The Red Bull driver has instead reserved most of his anger for the sprint format itself, which was introduced in Baku last race weekend.
“Just scrap the whole thing,” said Verstappen, who finished third in Saturday’s challenge. “It’s important to go back to what we had and make sure every team can fight for the win. That’s what we should try to strive for and not implement this artificial excitement.’
He then compared the format to ‘gambling’ and said he was ‘bored’ during qualifying for Sunday’s race, in which the drivers’ standings leader finished second behind his team-mate Sergio Perez.