Max Verstappen said he and George Russell squashed the beef between them in Abu Dhabi and so expects relations to be “fine” going into F1 2025.
The final two race weekends of the F1 2024 campaign received an injection of energy after Max Verstappen and George Russell verbally went to battle in Abu Dhabi, their spat from the previous round in Qatar – Verstappen giving up pole to Russell due to a one-place grid penalty – spilling over into the season finale.
Max Verstappen and George Russell ‘will be fine’ in F1 2025
Among the verbal attacks were Russell bringing up Abu Dhabi 2021 and claiming Verstappen had threatened to deliberately crash into him, while Verstappen called Russell a “loser” who had been “lying” to get him a penalty, Verstappen having been judged to have been driving too slowly in Qatar GP qualifying as Russell came up behind him.
However, according to Verstappen, he and Russell cleared the air so that they can start fresh from F1 2025.
“We spoke briefly after the race in Abu Dhabi,” Verstappen told Kleine Zeitung.
“That’s okay, we’ll start again next year and that will be fine.”
Looking ahead to F1 2025.
Amid their spat, Verstappen and Russell were pictured sat at opposite ends of the table at the traditional end-of-season F1 drivers’ dinner, with Verstappen’s new Red Bull team-mate Liam Lawson spilling the beans on a prank which the drivers played on Russell.
This is f***ing funny,” Lawson began on the Pitstop podcast.
We rock up, and we’re at this big table. Me and Yuki got there together, and we weren’t the first people there — there were probably like six or seven people there.
“But as the table was filling up, there was basically [one] side of the table was pretty much full, and opposite me was Max, and then there was like, three chairs to the left at the end of the table that were left.
“And George hadn’t turned up at this point.
“We were like, this is perfect. Everybody that was coming, we were like, fill that side of the table! We’re gonna save that spot for George, right next to Max.
“Then George arrives, and we were all like, ‘Hey!’
“And Max was like, ‘Here [Lawson gestures beside himself] mate, we’ve saved a seat for you!’
“And George just picks up the chair and walks to the other end of the table and sits on the other side of the table with Lewis.
“We thought it would be funny. It wasn’t funny. It was funny for us.”
Asked if Russell said anything at all, Lawson clarified: “Nothing.
We kind of expected them to put it on hold for the drivers’ dinner.
“Initially, [Russell] even walked introducing himself to everyone at the table, but instead, he returned and grabbed the chair.”
The same can be said for the Russell, who will begin F1 2025 with a new team-mate in the form of 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli after Lewis Hamilton signing for Ferrari.