“Russell is a different person than what he shows in front of the camera,” reckons Verstappen

Following their incident in qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix, four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen claims that Mercedes rival George Russell acts differently when he is not in front of the cameras.

Following a low-key showing in Qatar F1 Sprint, Max Verstappen bounced back with an eye-catching performance in the main qualifying for Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix. The newly-crowned four-time world champion looked strong from the get-go in the standard qualifying, with Red Bull having made several tweaks to his RB20 following the sprint race.

The Dutchman needed a quick lap in the dying seconds of Q3 to beat George Russell, which he was able to deliver to secure his first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix.

However, he was stripped of his pole position for a yellow flag incident. The Dutchman was upset by the decision, but he regained the lead at the start of the race, and did not let the victory slip through his fingers despite three safety car interventions.

Pushed on to reflect on the conversation in the meeting room, Verstappen was upset by Russell’s behaviour, explaining that he has never seen someone trying to “screw someone over that hard”.

“I was quite surprised when sitting there in the Stewards’ room, what was all going on. Honestly, very disappointing because I think we’re all here, we respect each other a lot and of course, I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life, in my career with people that have raced and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. And that for me… I lost all respect.”

Speaking to Viaplay, Verstappen even went on to claim that the Mercedes driver acts differently behind the scenes to what he shows in front of the camera.

“How he behaved didn’t make sense. I have respect for everyone, but I lost it with him. I thought it was ridiculous how he tried to force a penalty on me. I was pretty angry about that too.

“In front of the camera he is very decent, but outside he is a completely different person. I can’t stand that, then you better fuck off. I don’t want anything to do with that,” Verstappen concluded.