Russell says Verstappen told him Saturday night "he was going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and ‘put me on my f****** head in the wall’"
Russell says Verstappen told him Saturday night "he was going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and ‘put me on my f****** head in the wall’"
George Russell has launched a scathing attack on Max Verstappen following the world champion’s criticism of his conduct in the stewards’ room in Qatar. Verstappen said he lost all respect for Russe…
Worth reading the article as Russell does a good job of explaining his points from a logical position rather than an angry one.
Max has always been on the ragged edge of what is accepted and legal in F1. There are even rules that have been adjusted because of him. As long as the governing body is consistent and fair in their application of the rules people like Max may ruffle feathers but should ultimately have no advantage over their competition. I think most would agree the last several years (and arguably far longer) have seen wildly inconsistent stewarding and race direction decisions, so here we are.
I don't think Max or George are bad drivers, but both are clearly trying to maximize what they can gain from the rulebook that governs their sport. In theory the governing body and its officials maintain normalcy through consistent and fair application of the rules. This season however, like many others, the rules are seemingly applied at random and with varying levels of severity. That's brought us to this point IMO.
The drivers now see that posturing for the referee can net them more success than legitimate racing. At first they complained that this needed to be addressed or it would have a major impact on the sport. It wasn't, so now we're seeing the childish behavior play out on center stage while they compete in the steward's room instead of on track.
Let's see which team will debut the first driver who's neither a good one on track nor a paydriver, but rather a "lawyerdriver" who is the most efficient in convincing stewards to gain positions :D
God help us all if he debuts in the era of Fernando Alonso as FiA BOSS like he joked.
MAXIMUM PENALTIES INTENSIFIES
Well, seems George is doubling down on his sneaky behavior.
- There was no real issue on track and only George complained
- I believe that George was either not paying attention or he intentionally drove the way he did to have a 'case'
- George acts all friendly and reasonable in public but in the stewards room he tried to screw Max over
- He is now banking on people believing him he was threatened by Max due to Max's perceived 'dangerous driving' and certain fans willingness to see or paint Max in a negative way
This is all a bit ridiculous tbh. And if we need to believe one or the other then I will 100% believe Max as you may not like him but there is one thing we can all agree on, Max tells you straight up what he thinks and how he behaves. George on the other hand is a character I find hard to trust as he has this certain "Je ne sais quoi" about him which makes me distrust things he says.
And lets not forget, George is the guy who caused a major incident (can happen) and went straight to the other driver and started hitting him (Bottas). So before we start banking on and believing that guy we should consider that George might not be, how shall I put this, entirely right in the head and has a tendency to behave like a lunatic.
All this because George acts like a devious child and doubles down on it. What a guy....
What? You are saying „lol George is lying and inventing stuff“ and then going on to frame all that max said as completely correct and the truth. Like, at least be objective to both: if anything, both are idiots here. Max for saying these things, George for pushing for a penalty as hard as he did.
Trying to frame it into one direction by just framing it this way and actively leaving out stuff that was said, and just claiming X is telling the truth and Y is lying does not sound like you’re unbiased at all.
You're expecting an unbiased take in regards to Max from an avid and extremely dedicated Max fan with .nl in their name?
But what George claims Max said does open up the question of George possibly lying. Or are you seriously going to believe "I would rather crash with you than give up my position" Verstappen said he wouldn't race George and would let him pass? Completely voluntarily and without any benefit to him? Not only would that be completely uncharacteristic of him, it makes no sense for him to say that and if he somehow did actually say that, why would he be pissed about the penalty if he's going to give the lead to Russell anyway? It makes no sense but George claims that's what Max said.
Unless Max explicitly confirms what George claims Max said I'm going to stick with George is lying.
Yep, I said what I said. I truly believe George is making stuff up and Max tells the truth. See, you believe some things were said, perhaps the bit about Max driving into George and putting his f*cking head into the wall? And you are calling me out? :-)
And we all have bias, I will just not lie about it unlike...others.
I agree and another part that made me question what Russell claims is this:
"I was going to not even race you tomorrow, I was going to let you by".
Does that sound like Max Verstappen to you? It doesn't sound like Max Verstappen to me. GP literally felt the need to tell Max to not race and risk the WDC because Max is a racer first and foremost and he's not just going to give up a position. He's going to race and he's going to make you fight for your position and the only exception to that is if he has a really good reason to let you by (and even team orders isn't a good enough reason). Considering he's already won the WDC and there's nothing to gain (or lose) for the WCC Max was there to race last week, why would he ever choose to not race George and just let him pass? He wouldn't because that's not who Max Verstappen is. If he can race he will race.
"I will purposely go out of my way to put you on your f****** head in the wall"
This is George speak, this is not something Max said either, it just does not sound right. But if you think about how George would phrase this sentence then it absolutely 100% tracks. This is his version of what he thinks Max would say and sound like and he formulated that sentence in his head, ready to be used in public to try and steer the conversation and "guilt" towards Max.
The more I think about it the more I realize how much of a snake that little boy george is...
I've also heard there's often truth to the phrase "like father like son" and this does sound like something a Verstappen might say or do.
See, there it is again. The perceived notion that Max will actually drive into George because...reasons I choose to believe.
Max has proven time and time again he is his own man, he does not mimic nor represent his father's behaviors. Based on a 'hunch' and your idea that 'like father like son' is in play here, you actually just communicated you can see Max driving into George and possibly kill or harm him in the process.
Do you now see and realize what George is doing and trying to achieve? He is banking on your idea of Max being who you believe him to be.
George is more of a sneak and devious guy then many would believe. And again, if I have to take the word of George or Max, I will absolutely believe Max due to the fact that the man has always, always, told you what he thinks and how he sees the sport. George on the other hand is trying to paint a picture of himself and in doing so he comes off as untrustworthy and a bit a of a liar. I do not believe he is as honest in public as private.
I don't know and I since Verstappen hasn't said anything about it yet I'm not forming an opinion.
Yes, I think it is 2) and Max is not referring to things said, but the fact that George intentionally drove right up to him.
Average Max statement lol
E: downvote all you want, Max fanboys. Saying you intend to crash a competitor out of a race head-first into a wall is not acceptable, particularly not in a sport where people have died and the last death was due to a head injury...
Max has been acting in this way ever since he joined the sport and nothing is ever done about it.
I see that Max stans are out in full force with the downvotes. F1 fans think Max is their god or something, it's weird.
They really are.
If it was Stroll or someone who had said he intends to "crash someone's fucking head into a wall" there would be zero excuses made for him. But of course, because it's Max, people bend over backwards to make it seem like he's in the right, as usual.
Max is a hot head but do you really think that he would say that he would deliberately crash somebody out and put them on their head¿? Verstappen never went to this level even though he was sent to the hospital by lewis (for standard checks only). I somehow don't see him making that specific statement - both parts, the one about letting Russell through and about shoving him into the wall doesn't sound like something that max would.
Did Max really say this or is this a "Russell said that Max said" thing?
Russell said that Max said.
George misstated what happened to his engine. See video. I'm guessing that's not the only thing he misstated.
Seems like Max is trying to get into Russell's head. Typical psychological warfare between drivers, which IMO there's nothing wrong with that. If he does indeed intentionally wreck him, that's where heavy penalties would need to be given out.
Its one thing when you talk shit before the race to psych out your opponent. It's another thing entirely to risk doing them bodily harm by following through and wrecking them.
If it is psychological warfare, then Max IMO has no business complaining about George's arguing to reporters
Isn't it a death threat to say "I'll intentionally crash into you" in this sport?
Not even just crashing, crashing in a way that "puts your fucking head through a wall". Clearly he wants a Russell crash to be quite the shunt.
A bit tasteless perhaps, considering the last F1 driver to die was from a head injury. But Max has always been a bit of a cunt like that.
The cause of all this nonsense is that dumb policy to discuss issues like this with both drivers present at the same time. I 100% put the blame for this quarrel on the stewards.