Verstappen Doubles Down Russell's Lies at Qatar GP

Verstappen: Russell Lied to FIA Stewards in Qatar

Max Verstappen has escalated his criticism of George Russell, accusing the Mercedes driver of lying to FIA stewards following their Qatar GP clash.

Max Verstappen now accuses George Russell of lying to FIA stewards, delivering a fresh scathing attack on the Mercedes F1 driver following their controversy in Qatar.

During qualifying in Losail, Verstappen was found guilty by the stewards of driving unnecessarily slowly and blocking Russell, even though both were on out-laps. As a result, Verstappen received a grid penalty, losing pole position to Russell, and he later lashed out at the Briton in the stewards’ room, claiming to have lost “all respect” for him after the Red Bull driver won the race.

Asked about the incident ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen doubled down today, accusing Russell of lying to the stewards.

“I have no regrets at all because I meant everything I said.”

“If I had to do it again, I might have said even more, knowing the outcome of the race. I still can’t believe someone could be like that in the stewards’ room.”

“For me, it was so unacceptable because we’re all race drivers, we have a lot of respect for each other, we even do the sport together, we travel together, and of course, there are times when you end up together and crash or whatever else when you’re not happy.”

“In my entire career, I’ve never experienced what I went through in the stewards’ room in Qatar, and for me, it was really unacceptable.”

“It has nothing to do with him being the GPDA director, I just didn’t expect someone to really try to get such a serious penalty and lie about what I was doing, but it clearly had an impact on them.”

“It was simply not pleasant and actually very shocking what was happening.”

Clearly irritated, Verstappen also mocked, as Alonso had in recent days.

“I’m going to do my out-lap flat out. I’m going to act like I’m going to crash into everyone. I just didn’t understand. I didn’t even know why it was being judged. And then honestly, when I was there in the room, I was just trying to explain the story behind all of this. I was just trying to be nice.”

The Dutchman made sure to recall the facts.

“Of course, everyone slowed down ahead because there were quite a few cars trying to set up for their fast laps. I slowed down too, because I didn’t want to accelerate and ruin their preparation. Then, I saw someone flying into my rearview mirror, acting like the most dangerous thing had just happened and that they had nearly killed themselves or something. It was unbelievable. We were all on an out-lap, it wasn’t like anyone was on a fast lap.”

“When I was called by the stewards, I was very surprised because I didn’t really hinder anyone. I also think that on an out-lap, we all stay on our normal racing lines, because we’re all trying to avoid picking up rubber anyway. It’s not necessary when everyone is going slow. I don’t know how they reached that conclusion. For me, it was very disappointing because, in trying to avoid trouble, you end up putting yourself in a difficult situation.”

“I think at this point in the season, almost at the end, I don’t want to fight with anyone over these kinds of things. He comes up to me after qualifying, asking, ‘Why did you ruin my lap by starting your lap, what are you doing?’ I told him, ‘I don’t want to be in this position,’ but by doing that, George put me in the position where I had to go see the stewards.”

Verstappen Doubles Down: Russell’s Lies at Qatar GP Verstappen Doubles Down: Russell’s Lies at Qatar GP

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21 Mar 2025 - 23 Mar 2025
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2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Race Results

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
57
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
+0.895s
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
+8.481s
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
+12.773s
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
+15.135s
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
+17.413s
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
+18.423s
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
+19.826s
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
+20.448s
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
+22.473s
Pierre Gasly
11
PIERRE
GASLY
+26.502s
Yuki Tsunoda
12
YUKI
TSUNODA
+29.884s
Esteban Ocon
13
ESTEBAN
OCON
+33.161s
Oliver Bearman
14
OLIVER
BEARMAN
+40.351s
Liam Lawson
15
LIAM
LAWSON
47 DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto
16
GABRIEL
BORTOLETO
47 DNF
Fernando Alonso
17
FERNANDO
ALONSO
34 DNF
Carlos Sainz
18
CARLOS
SAINZ
0 DNF
Jack Doohan
19
JACK
DOOHAN
0 DNF
Isack Hadjar
20
ISACK
HADJAR
0 DNF
F1 CALENDAR 2025
Race
Date
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Chinese
Shanghai International
23 Mar
Japanese Flag
Japanese
Suzuka Circuit
6 Apr
Bahrain Flag
Bahrain
Sakhir desert
13 Apr
Saudi Arabia Flag
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street
20 Apr
United States Flag
United States
Miami
04 May

2025 FORMULA 1 DRIVERS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
25 Points
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
18
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
15
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
12
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
10
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
8
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
6
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
4
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
2
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
1

2025 FORMULA 1 CONSTRUCTORS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1
McLaren
27
2
Mercedes
25
3
Red Bull
18
4
Williams
12
5
Aston Martin
8
6
Sauber
6
7
Ferrari
5
8
Alpine F1
0
9
Haas F1
0
10
Racing Bulls
0
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