The primary clue that one thing sensational was within the offing was the jam-packed hospitality unit, with barely an area to face. The second clue was the Netflix microphone, hovering conspicuously over an incensed , as he launched grenade after grenade.
And the third? , coming into stage left, two minutes into a unprecedented 14-minute media session for the written press on Thursday, on the season-concluding race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
had upped the ante a number of hours earlier, accusing Russell of to the stewards of their week-long squabble over a finally weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
The pair – who’ve by no means actually been cordial, no matter any padel matches infer – have been already at daggers drawn, with Verstappen telling the Brit to in Doha and Russell responding on Thursday morning, telling a number of choose shops that the Dutchman threatened to place his
Each query, bar one, was about this feud. A feud that has additionally reignited the longstanding quarrel between and Toto Wolff and, in consequence, and Mercedes.
Three years on from the , it was like 2021 another time.
Russell didn’t want a second invitation firstly: “It’s humorous as a result of even earlier than I mentioned a phrase within the stewards’ [room], he was swearing on the stewards – he was so indignant earlier than I’d ever spoken.
“I have no idea why he felt the necessity for this private assault. I’m not going to take it.”
Enter Wolff, in a navy blue polo shirt, standing subsequent to his driver in solidarity and with the air of a person defending his son within the headmaster’s workplace. For a protracted whereas, he simply stood there; his presence was an announcement in itself.
Russell then proceeded to reward his outgoing Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton – whose highlight was stolen on media day for the Silver Arrows – and say his compatriot was the “world champion I aspire to be like”.
He additionally referred to as out Verstappen’s behaviour previously, courting again to their days in go-karts at 14 years of age, and speculated that 25 per cent of Purple Bull engineers utilized for jobs at rival groups after the Dutchman’s in Hungary in July.
However the largest shot thrown, a minimum of at Verstappen, was to that contentious finale in 2021: “May you think about if the roles had been reversed and Max shedding that championship within the method Lewis misplaced that championship?
“[Ex-F1 race director Michael] Masi could be fearing for his life.”
Then Wolff had his say, accusing Horner of being a “weak” group principal for not downplaying Verstappen’s feedback final week. He : “How can he really feel entitled to remark about my driver? Having spent 90 seconds to consider it… [he’s a] yapping little terrier. At all times one thing to say.”
This got here after Horner within the stewards’ room – during which Purple Bull opined that the Brit did every little thing potential to get his rival penalised – as “hysterical.”
The session completed on Wolff’s phrases, because the Austrian acknowledged: “How dare you touch upon the way of thinking of my driver?”
For what it’s value, Verstappen had the ultimate say, telling the Dutch media a couple of minutes later that Russell is a and a “loser”.
For Drive to Survive, filming all of it, it was dream content material. For the remainder of us watching, eyebrows raised, it was terrific needle in a sport which is at its greatest when two groups are combating hammer and tong on the tarmac and within the press room.
Ought to each drivers be in line for a championship nip and tuck in 2025, it should make for a humdinger of a season. Of extra instant concern is that this weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, the place it’s McLaren and Ferrari , not Mercedes and Purple Bull.
However that isn’t the lead now. Neither is it Hamilton’s Mercedes farewell. All eyes are actually on Saturday’s qualifying session the place, ought to Russell and Verstappen end within the high three, the pair can be aspect by aspect within the press convention room. And if that materialises? Standing room solely…
