George Russell made it clear he felt Max Verstappen should be penalised for leaving the track on the first lap of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver had a clear view of Verstappen cutting across the run-off area at turns one and two on the first lap of the race and moving ahead of Oscar Piastri.Shortly after the Safety Car was deployed, Russell used his radio to tell race engineer Marcus Dudley “Verstappen completely sent it off the track.” Drivers routinely use their radio communications with their teams to express their views on incidents for the benefit of race control, as Piastri and Verstappen did at the same time.
Russell, who ran third behind Verstappen and Piastri at the start, continued to press the case later in the Safety Car period, asking Dudley: “I presume Verstappen is going to have to give [up] this place?”
“It has been noted, so it will be under investigation,” Dudley replied.
Although Red Bull might have avoided a penalty for Verstappen by instructing him to let Piastri by, they did not. The stewards penalised him, which Dudley related to Russell, who did not reply: “So Verstappen has a five-second penalty.”
Russell might have stood to benefit from Verstappen’s penalty but gradually dropped back after the restart and fell to fifth place at the finish.
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In Qatar last year Russell said he lost respect for Verstappen over his conduct when the Red Bull driver was given a one-place grid penalty for impeding him in qualifying. Russell claimed Verstappen threatened to crash into him on purpose.
“He cannot deal with adversity,” said Russell. “Whenever anything is not going his way, he lashes out with unnecessary anger and borderline violence.”
Verstappen accused Russell of ‘trying to screw me over’ after they spoke to the stewards.
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2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
- Red Bull made tactical decision not to avoid a penalty in Jeddah, Horner confirms
- Norris’s starts were far poorer than Verstappen’s but the balance is shifting
- McLaren’s rivals “just one upgrade away from being the lead car” – Brown
- Russell told race control what he thought of Verstappen’s first lap corner cut
- Doohan’s final corner pass on Bortoleto was F1’s closest fight for last place in seven years
Dex
23rd April 2025, 12:41
He was right, but in this case he was far from a neutral bystander. Team radio is really more like FIA radio these days. I think that the stewards shouldn’t be able to listen to it, so that we don’t have to listen to Verstappen crying about being pushed off the track, Piastri demanding his position back, Russel hoping to gain something from this etc. The worst are those situations where a team would push its driver to complain, when he forgets to do it (“Driver X, driver Y pushed you off the track, right?” “Ah yes, yes, he definitely pushed me. That was dangerous.”).
Denis (@denis1304)
24th April 2025, 19:12
You remember Max tattletale on Norris in Bahrain? What goes around, comes around.
Kata
25th April 2025, 10:26
Almost every driver does it, nothing new.
osnola
23rd April 2025, 13:09
wow, thats a surprise ;)
Ohtam
23rd April 2025, 23:26
Russets will never reach max verstapen’s level he is big winnnnnnner
Lyn
25th April 2025, 8:50
Rubbish, George is an excellent driver. He has more integrity than Verstappen.
El Pollo Loco
24th April 2025, 11:47
Exactly. Of course Max deserved a penalty, but George reports everyone for everything. I don’t even know Mr. Russell and he reported me to my landlord for having an unregistered pet in my apartment.
Denis (@denis1304)
24th April 2025, 19:13
You remember Max tattletale on Norris in Bahrain?
Richard
24th April 2025, 20:45
I think every F1 driver on the grid since radio’s were invented has complained about what another driver has done. That said I want to point out that Alonso later in the race was forced off the track because another driver just wasn’t paying attention after being passed by the first car and almost wrecked them both and while Alonso remarked about the other driver’s moving in the braking zone he also immediately gave the place back to that driver without having to be ordered to by officials. I enjoy watching F1 but there isn’t a driver in a winning car right now that I actually want to root for either because of their actions on or off the track or their teams actions.
Joe Juman
25th April 2025, 6:12
You’ve inspired me to post my first comment ever on here. I couldn’t agree more,l. I think that the character of these racers is such a crucial factor in the allure of the sport. I realize that champions don’t play “nice”, but seeing a bunch of whining, lying, snitching, entitled cry-babies parade around these crappy tracks has zero appeal to me. At least in the good old days those champions were actual men. So again, I think your comment is spot on.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
23rd April 2025, 13:34
I mean he stood to gain if Verstappen got a penalty, of course he’d say that. It’d be more surprising if he hadn’t.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
23rd April 2025, 13:39
To be fair, he’d stand to gain as much if Piastri was penalized for “forcing another driver off the track”.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
23rd April 2025, 13:44
But thats irrelevant as he didnt. Theres no room for 2 on that chicane as per most chicanes. He knew that, assume you do also
MichaelN
23rd April 2025, 15:08
There is always room. It’s just a matter of adjusting speed. The issue is that the FIA has, over decades, elevated Senna’s give up or we crash driving to the norm. And in today’s cars, on today’s tracks, there is zero incentive for the drivers to not drive like that all the time. Though it was still wrong back in the day, at least it came with risks to both drivers that made it somewhat rare and even spectacular.
Doh
23rd April 2025, 21:36
Except piastri did not. Max was carrying more speed than his pole lap lol. Ond slower tyres, omaway from the apex (the fastest line), and with a full tank of fuel and with colder brakes. Yet he went in faster than his pole lap. It’s hilarious to then try to put fault on his competition, complain about a rightful penalty and act like he did no wrong.
Mog
23rd April 2025, 22:31
jolyons did not look happy giving that analysis tho, wonder if he was told to do it.
MacLeod (@macleod)
24th April 2025, 8:09
Oscar had also much more speed dat his Qualify why do you think he just made the corner himself with only a sliver of his left tyre….
It’s clear the inside position is clearly favored compaired with the pole. They should think about swapping the positions Pole to the inside and second to the outside.
Doh
25th April 2025, 11:36
Show proof. Max was clearly going much faster hence he did not make the corner (as planned)
LosD (@losd)
23rd April 2025, 14:34
To be fair, according to the quotes the article the only real mention of consequences from Russell was “I presume Verstappen is going to have to give [up] this place?”, which he would not really gain from.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
23rd April 2025, 19:57
Max only gained from cutting the corner. Was never penalized for cutting the corner and passing off the track. If Max had gone around the corner like everyone else he would have finished the first lap in behind 2nd place.
Kata
25th April 2025, 10:31
I think he was going to gain something, because if Verstappen gave his place back to Piastri he wouldn’t have the benefit of driving in free air anymore. Then Russell would have got the chance to attack Max in de first laps. And if not, at least Russell would think that could be the case.
LosD (@losd)
25th April 2025, 11:21
Would it really change anything for Russell if it’s Verstappen or Piastri that doesn’t have free air? Sure, there’s differences in how the cars cope, but I still don’t really see a huge change for Russell.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
25th April 2025, 16:51
Russell was not given the chance to attack Verstappen because the clowns who are stewards made sure Verstappen would stay in front of Piastri until the first pit stop.
Verstappen cut the corner, not only evading 2nd place, but potentially losing more places over the first stint.
Piastri knew he would get the place back and had no issues taking the win.
Russell, and everyone else behind Piastri was punished because Max cheated, because Max Intentionally cut the first corner, and most likely planned to irrespective if he was in front of Piastri or not, before the race even started.
BenHur
27th April 2025, 22:18
Oh, but Baby Snitches does not need a particular reason or gain expectation to snitch. It is just their nature.
David BR (@david-br)
23rd April 2025, 14:10
I know it’s self-interest (and obviously Russell knows everyone knows that) but generally these ‘third party’ assessments from drivers not directly involved and from different teams are a good indication of what actually happened.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
23rd April 2025, 14:32
Everybody knows it was Oscar’s corner. Verstappen would have done the same as Oscar had he been it that position (as he did in the past). Time to move on.
Coventry Climax
23rd April 2025, 18:57
That’s not true though. Had they had reversed lines to drive, and Piastri had gone off, then the vast majority here would have argued that Verstappen had left Piastri no room.
To be clear, I couldn’t care less which driver is to blame.
In my eyes it’s F1, even visiting these anomalies they insist on calling race tracks.
Edvaldo
23rd April 2025, 20:27
i’m positive if the roles were reversed, Piastri would let him by right after like Antonelli did. But with Max they have to tell him to do it or issue him a penalty, he will never allow himself to be overtaken by his own will.
slowmo (@slowmo)
24th April 2025, 9:48
Well had the roles been reversed, most would still say the person on the outside who was behind at the apex should have conceded and attempted to made the corner, rather than cheating by flooring it across the run off and making no effort. The difference is Piastri wouldn’t have floored it and overtaken off track and if he had, he’d almost certainly have conceded the position back without arguing about it.
Ferdi
24th April 2025, 10:25
Except when roles were indeed reversed Max would still would have gotten a penalty, that much has become pretty clear. The years of endless whining about his driving style (mainly by UK press) has paid off. I might not like the UK antics when it comes to sports event, but it sure is effective.
Drg
24th April 2025, 15:03
Tell me you are being sarcastic?
Serious question
SteveP
24th April 2025, 18:01
Nah, he’s serious.
His problem is that with no Brits on the stewards panel in Saudi, the usual bleat of “British Bias stewards” falls flat on its face, so the desperate straw to cling to is that the stewards are so weak willed the gutter press of the UK can make them decide to punish a certain Belgian born driver.
Ferdi
25th April 2025, 9:57
You are really not getting the point are you? That is part of its success. It proves that indoctrination works. An effective campaign influences peoples perception over a longer period of time. That is textbook PR plan stuff.
JC
23rd April 2025, 14:46
“He cannot deal with adversity,” said Russell. “Whenever anything is not going his way, he lashes out with unnecessary anger and borderline violence.”
Say what you will about Russel. This statement is as succinct an evaluation of Max can be.
MichaelN
23rd April 2025, 15:11
Hardly, Verstappen, like other drivers, have both good and bad moments. He has certainly misbehaved, and he’s wisdom dealt with setbacks in exemplary ways. It’s why he’s both controversial and a for time champion.
Though Russell does know a thing or two about lashing out and being physically violent.
Pierre
23rd April 2025, 16:50
Russell starts to look more and more like a cry baby. Stop racing or man up.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th April 2025, 18:24
He’s not being a cry baby. He’s being kind to Max and accurately critiquing his driving habits.
Guys like Lando, Piastri and Russell will continue to pick apart his rule chasing, and use his own game against him. The only guys keeping Max in play are the stewards, and red bull.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
23rd April 2025, 14:49
When regular posters post opinions, we’re told that we’ve never raced so we don’t know what we’re talking about.
When actual racers express their opinions, we’re told they’re biased.
Got it.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
23rd April 2025, 15:18
We don’t know what we’re talking about, that’s true. Doesn’t mean you cannot comment.
And Russell had every reason to urge for a penalty, not exactly for the love of sport and being a good fella. The more vulnerable all of your rivals can be, the better. Nothing against Russell, but in this particular incident, if this was, say, Pierre Gasly giving his opinion about the incident, I’d believe in it a bit more.
BMW P85 V10
23rd April 2025, 18:22
We (as in the commenters) have all the camera views, the slow-motions, the on-boards and some primitive data. Russell only has his obscured and biased view and a split second to see what happened. He was never in a position to see all the necessary details nor was it his call to comment on things happening in front of him, although he had something to gain.
Dr Zilman
23rd April 2025, 19:27
Except that he was actually right. Telemetry showed Max went into the corner to fast, didn’t brake enough and opened his steering. There guys can see things in the blink of an eye.
Dr Zilman
23rd April 2025, 19:35
We may have never raced an actual race car, on am actual track. Bit sim racing is close enough. F1 drivers use race sims to practice, or shake down possible upgrades.
I’ve personally used a trick Max spoke about when he had that big slide in the wet a few years ago, then he impressively got the car back straight. That actually works in sim race games too. Let go of the accelerator button, allow the car to regain grip and punch it. That has saved me multiple times in online/offline racing.
Drg
24th April 2025, 15:10
The game is modelled on track activity and data.
I suspect you are talking about Brazil (let us not forget who won that race)
It works but I can assure you as a successful physical racer – it will not work every time. You need steering input.
And will generally end up in the wall – Max was stunningly lucky that day.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
23rd April 2025, 15:16
I’d not put too much emphasis into what Russell, then sitting P3 and close to those two, said about the incident.
roger norman
23rd April 2025, 17:32
Verstappen’s just like Christian Horner: Rules are meant to be bent beyond recognition.
BMW P85 V10
23rd April 2025, 18:32
Apparently this goes for wings as well.
SteveP
23rd April 2025, 21:32
Drives better than Horner ever did, and hasn’t left his first wife with a young kid – nope, not seeing the similarity.
Bill Heffner
23rd April 2025, 19:25
That’s real moral character. Not. If I can’t win by outdriving him, maybe I can win by win by talking the officials into giving him a penalty.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
23rd April 2025, 20:44
Yes… didn’t even have to outdrive him, could have got within five seconds when Max stopped and took his penalty, but he wasn’t.
An Sionnach
23rd April 2025, 19:58
He said it was simply lovely.
baasbas
23rd April 2025, 21:48
This is an article about Russell pointing at a foul committed by someone else. Reasonable these days. Nothing more happened.
But let’s add stuff Russell said about Verstappen in a completely separate and in no way connected event. And commenters trip over themselves. Just as they did when DTS was slated for cutting up footage just to spice up (make up?) a narrative
Ok.. sure
slowmo (@slowmo)
24th April 2025, 9:52
Do you not perhaps think that context for why Russell might have an agenda or bias against Verstappen in light of his comments is fair journalism. Instead of thinking of it as spicing it up, consider that there might be people who read this article not having known the history between the two. Believe it or not, there are people who don’t follow every element of F1 or have recently started following the sport.
baasbas
24th April 2025, 14:52
@slowmo
No, it’s a page out of DTS playbook. None of the implied agenda is visible. There was nothing he said or what could be read between the lines. And then there is Occams razor. He sees a competitor make a foul, he stands to possibly gain by complaining. It’s as easy as that. The perpetrator giving the place back creates a chance for him to be there when it happens and possibly pounce. Also, the perpetrator is the one right above him in the standings with only 6 points between them.
There is no need to try and imply a vendetta.. That’s gutter journalism
tielemst
23rd April 2025, 23:03
So? Max has told his pit wall that Lando wasn’t in his box last week and that the correct starting procedure wasn’t followed in Brazil. Everybody does it and it’s all making sure the stewards have noticed it and hopefully dish out a penalty.
Drg
24th April 2025, 15:17
Fully accept that and no doubt F1.co filter this stuff (probably half the front ten had a comment)
But – Max has a running commentary the rare times his car is no longer enjoying a fairly substantial performance run and he has to work for a living.
It is tiresome.
Undoubtedly incredibly talented but such stuff given the last 2.5 years is just petty.
Ferdi
25th April 2025, 9:59
Such a classy guy, this George. I bet they all love him.