What Max Verstappen told George Russell in heated behind-closed-doors Qatar GP meeting | F1 | Sport

Max Verstappen reportedly accused George Russell of cosying up to the FIA during a heated meeting with the stewards ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Dutchman qualified first on the grid on Saturday but ultimately lost his P1 grid slot after Russell successfully campaigned for a penalty. Verstappen blocked the Mercedes driver on a warm-up lap and was hit with a one-place grid drop, giving the Brit the best starting position on Sunday.

After coming from second on the grid to win his ninth Grand Prix of the year, Verstappen ripped into Russell in front of the media, accusing the 26-year-old of being two-faced.

According to Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz, Verstappen’s frustrations also lead to a confrontation during the steward meeting after qualifying.

He explained: “The rumour is, and I think you’ll find when Drive to Survive airs in February – because they’re certainly not going to leave this little snippet on the editing room floor – that on the drivers’ parade holding room, Max then confronted George, still seething – as we’ve said, he uses that anger as motivation – for his one place grid drop.

“And [he] said something along the lines of ‘You and your FIA mates, I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done’, or ‘Your FIA buddies’. I think the actual quote was rather ruder than that… but I’m not going to say what it was. But that seems to be the confrontation that Christian Horner referred to.”

While Verstappen was furious with the Las Vegas Grand Prix winner, Russell did not believe that there was any bad blood between the pair. The two drivers have clashed before, most notably during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend in 2023.

“No, there’s no concerns,” Russell said after the race in Qatar. “We know Max is a fighter and is aggressive. I expect no difference. I really wanted to go out there and fight with him today like we could have done in the sprint. But yesterday in the sprint, he was probably two or three tenths behind us.

“Today, we were two or three tenths behind him. It just goes to show what a night can do in this sport. It’s always on a knife’s edge. It’s a shame we didn’t have the pace when it mattered.”