Max Verstappen launched into a furious rant against George Russell after the Qatar Grand Prix, accusing him of being two-faced and explaining that he has ‘lost respect’ for the Mercedes driver.
The Dutchman’s frustrations stemmed from qualifying, where he lost the pole position to Russell following a post-session investigation by the FIA stewards. Verstappen was judged to have blocked the Brit on his warm-up lap in Q3.
Speaking to the media after coming back to win Sunday’s Grand Prix, Verstappen fumed: “Very disappointing. I have often been with the stewards in my career.
“But I have never seen someone who tried to screw the other like that. I have lost all my respect for him. In front of the cameras, he is very neat, but outside of it, he is a different person. I have nothing to do with that.”
Verstappen explained his frustrations regarding the meeting with the stewards, noting: “In the world we live in now, I’m not surprised anymore. I think it’s the first time someone gets a penalty for something that happened on a slow lap.
“I wanted to be nice. The season is decided for me and I don’t want to hinder anyone while they’re preparing their push lap. I tried to explain that, but I felt like I was talking to a brick wall.”
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