Translated: You don't like a specific driver & choose to believe things supporting that agenda. Got it.
None of this is new information on Max, he's an asshole, he drives like an asshole and has forever. George is mostly upset because someone called out the boy scout image he's worked really hard to cultivate.
To be clear - I'm not defending George. But, he is generally very measured in the media, apart from exuberant "yabba-dabba-doo" outburst & whining to engineers over team radio. What Max said is also very likely true... he's likely a pompous two-faced, jerk. I just think that it's funny thinking that any party behaves any better/differently than the other. In a sport measured in thousandths of a second, they'll all do anything for an advantage. Be it in a room with stewards, on the track, or in front of a mic... The lot of them are egomaniac assholes. I choose to believe both, purely for entertainment.
I've missed Toto making jabs at Horner & visa-versa... Why couldn't this have come to a head a few months back.
I don't think anyone expects it to be otherwise. Max's point was that George pulled out all the stops behind closed doors but in front of the media he tries to downplay everything. There is no secret to what Max is, he's tired of George trying to pretend he's different.
Hell, it is making me like M4X. "He's gone personal, and I'm not going to take it." wtf you want to duel or something? Max would kick your rudy poo candied ass
These drivers are bringing all the entertainment I could ask this week. Bunch of entitled assholes who lack self awareness, now turned to level 10 on the final race weekend. I Love F1
If the top of the field really does close up next year (seems like it could) and you have 4 teams and 6 drivers with championship aspirations... good lord its going to make 2021 look like a PG Disney Movie.
Keep talking George George Russell, Max Verstappen F1 War of Words Just Went Nuclear Story by Phillip Horton • 10h • 4 min read Spoiler Max Verstappen was sanctioned by stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly in front of George Russell during their preparation laps in qualifying in Qatar last weekend Russell claims Verstappen wanted to put him into the wall. Russell says Verstappen, "is not the sort of role model we should be." The war of words between Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen and Mercedes rival George Russell just went to another level. Russell has lashed out at Verstappen, revealing the world champion threatened to “put my f****** head in the wall,” in Qatar. Verstappen was sanctioned by stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly in front of Russell during their preparation laps in qualifying in Qatar last weekend. Verstappen was handed a one-place penalty, effectively swapping their grid positions, and after his victory in the race hit out at Russell. Verstappen doubled down on his comments on Thursday ahead of the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final round of the season. “I meant everything I said and it's still the same,” Verstappen said. “If I had to do it again, maybe I would have said even more knowing the outcome of the race results. I still can't believe that someone can be like that in the stewards room. For me, that was so unacceptable because, I mean, we're all racing drivers. We all have a lot of respect for each other. "We even, you know, play sports together, you travel together, and of course you have moments where you get together, you crash or whatever, you're not happy. In my whole career, I've never experienced what I have experienced in the stewards room in Qatar and for me, that was really unacceptable.” Verstappen added that “I just never expected someone to really try and actively get someone a penalty that badly and lying about why I was doing what I was doing.” Russell, speaking after Verstappen’s press conference, hit back at the four-time world champion, and questioned the Dutchman’s version of events. “It's funny because even before I said a word in the stewards, he was swearing at the stewards,” Russell claimed. “He was so angry before I'd even spoken.” Russell added that “I do not see why he felt the need for this personal attack. And I'm not going to take it. “I've known Max for a long time. I know what he's capable of. And, you know, he said to me he's going to purposely go out of his way to crash into me, putting my f****** head in the wall. I knew that was a bit of a heat of the moment thing. But when I went to see him the next day at the driver's parade, when Checo [Perez] was there, when Carlos [Sainz] was there, and we were joking around a little bit, I saw it in his eyes that he means it. And, you know, he's a four-time world champion. "When I compare his actions to the ones of Lewis [Hamilton], Lewis is the sort of world champion who I aspire to be like. The way he fought Max in ‘21 is hard. Very hard, it's fair. But never beyond the line. And for a world champion to come out saying he's going to go out of his way to crash into someone and put them on their effing head, that is not the sort of role model we should be. “I know what Max is like. It's not the first time I've seen him like this. I've seen him like this as a 14-year-old in the go-kart paddock. So this is just me sharing and sharing what happened really on Saturday night.” Russell went on to criticize Verstappen further for his conduct elsewhere during the 2024 season. Russell pointed to Verstappen’s performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix, in which he collided with Hamilton and hit out at his Red Bull team for a lack of pace, as evidence for not being able to deal with setbacks. “I don't know why this topic has got him so angry,” Russell said. “He cannot deal with adversity. He's had the most dominant car in racing history for two and a half years. I'm not questioning his driving abilities one single bit. But the second he does not have the fastest car… Let's take Budapest as an example. He crashes into Lewis. He slams his whole team and he loses the plot. You know, straight away after that race, 25% of his engineering team were sending their CVs to Mercedes, to McLaren, to Aston Martin. Because they said they can't deal with a guy like that. And since Austria, he's won the same number of races as six other drivers.” Russell additionally brought up the controversial 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi, in which Verstappen beat Hamilton to the title, following the questionable actions of then Race Director Michael Masi. “I think he's been enabled because nobody has stood up to him,” Russell said of Verstappen’s conduct. “Lewis stood up to him in 2021. And Lewis lost that championship unfairly. Could you imagine the roles being reversed? Max losing that championship and the manner that Lewis lost that championship. I mean, Masi would be fearing for his life.” Russell was atypically accompanied in his media session in Abu Dhabi by team boss Toto Wolff, who took aim at Red Bull’s Christian Horner, after his opposing team principal labelled Russell as “hysterical” during his postrace media session in Qatar. Wolff said: “Why does he [Horner] feel entitled to comment about my driver? How does that come? Yapping little terrier. Always something to say. “There is a thing between drivers, and this is George and Max, and I don’t want to get involved in that, but if the other team principal calls George hysteric, this is where he crosses a line for me. Now, his forte for sure is not intellectual psychoanalysis, but that’s quite a word. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver.”
George preening at SPA about how great and brilliant he was only for his win to be rescinded because his car was illegal in a manner that made his win possible is low key the most hilarious moment of the season in light of the recent news
Have never really been a Max fan, but this week has me feeling things. Hope he spends his time fucking with George