George Russell's heated exchange with Max Verstappen during the 2024 F1 season culminated in a war of words that spilled into the media. Former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner revealed that Russell admitted to using Steiner as inspiration for his public confrontations with Verstappen.
The F1 2024 season ended with an explosive war of words between champion Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver George Russell . According to former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner on The Red Flags Podcast , Russell admitted he was using Steiner as a bit of inspiration when carrying out his spat with Verstappen.
The strain of a long Formula 1 season saw Verstappen and Russell at their wits’ end in Qatar, with the two drivers engaging in a war of words via the media that lasted into the Abu Dhabi season finale. The two men traded verbal blows over a complex incident in qualifying. Verstappen and Russell were both on slow laps, but Russell approached Verstappen at a much higher rate of speed. The Mercedes driver was forced to take evasive action and radioed his team to inform them that he felt Verstappen’s move was dangerous. The reigning World Champion was hit with a one-place grid penalty that effective swapped him and Russell in the starting lineup. But in the stewards’ room after qualifying, things got heated. Russell claimed that Verstappen threatened to put the other driver head-first into the wall, which encouraged Russell to call out Verstappen publicly for being a “bully.” Then, in response, Verstappen called Russell a liar. The spat went so far that, during the pre-finale dinner in Abu Dhabi, Russell moved an empty seat next to Verstappen so that he could sit beside Hamilton instead. On the Red Flags podcast, Guenther Steiner denied one of his co-host’s assertions that Russell had enjoyed the moral high ground at the time. “He didn’t look the smartest guy there — to pick a fight with Max in front of the stewards, because Max milked that one,” Steiner said. By “milked,” it’s likely that Steiner is referring to the fact that Verstappen didn’t hesitate to retaliate against Russell publicly, in the media, in a battle that carried out over several weekends
F1 Max Verstappen George Russell Guenther Steiner Red Flags Podcast
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