Max Verstappen and George Russell ‘kept apart’ at Lewis Hamilton dinner after heated row | F1 | Sport
Lando Norris has confirmed that Max Verstappen and George Russell were kept ‘as far away from each other as possible’ during the traditional end-of-season dinner in Abu Dhabi.
The meal, which was the last one to be organised by Lewis Hamilton as a Mercedes driver, is held every year to commemorate the end of the campaign ahead of the final race at the Yas Marina Circuit.
It may have been slightly awkward at times, given the public row between Verstappen and Russell which exploded on Thursday as both drivers hit out at each other.
In a post on Instagram, Norris confirmed the pair were kept away from each other to avoid any face-to-face conflict at the dinner table.
The McLaren ace shared an image of all 20 drivers smiling at the camera alongside the caption: “2024 dinner! And yes, the two you’re thinking about were sat as far away from each other as possible.”
In the comments, Verstappen hinted at the ‘beef’ between himself and Russell by posting a steak emoji. The Mercedes driver shared the picture to his own accounts but made no reference to the elephant in the room, simply captioning it: “Class of 24.”
Only time will tell how the rest of the weekend plays out, with no love lost between Verstappen and Russell ahead of the action starting on Friday.
It all started when Verstappen hit out at Russell’s conduct when he was slapped with a one-place grid penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix. The Dutchman still managed to win the race, passing his Mercedes rival within seconds of the start.
He continued to berate Russell after the chequered flag, with the four-time champion stating he had ‘lost all respect’ for the Brit.
Things took a turn on Thursday when Russell accused Verstappen of threatening to deliberately crash into him. He also described the reigning champion as a ‘bully’ and suggested he is unable to cope when things are not going his way.
Russell said: “I find it all quite ironic, seeing as Saturday night he said he was going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and ‘put me on my f***ing head in the wall’.
“So to question somebody’s integrity as a person, while saying comments like that the day before, I find is very ironic, and I’m not going to sit here and accept it.
“People have been bullied by Max for years now, and you can’t question his driving abilities, but he cannot deal with adversity. Whenever anything has gone against him he lashes out.
“Budapest this year, the very first race the [Red Bull] car wasn’t dominant, crashing into Lewis, slamming his team. As I said, for me, those comments on Saturday night and Sunday were totally disrespectful and unnecessary.”
