George Russell allegedly refused to sit beside Max Verstappen at 2024 F1 driver dinner
After the Qatar GP soured relations between Max Verstappen and George Russell, the latter refused to sit next to the former at the GPDA dinner.
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Max Verstappen and George Russell (via IMAGO)
At the end of every season, drivers come together to celebrate the season finale in Abu Dhabi by hosting a dinner party. This seemingly clashed with the ongoing feud between George Russell and Max Verstappen, which would have caused some turbulence at the dinner table.
According to an F1 insider, the Brit refused to follow the original seating plan and sit next to the Dutchman. The verbal tussle between Max Verstappen and George Russell has escalated over the past week.
The Mercedes driver has not mellowed down his stance either and is expected to continue this issue after the finale in Abu Dhabi. With the platonic barriers breaking between the two drivers, the GPDA seasonal dinner would have been another place where the two would encounter each other.
The pair were seated alongside each other in the original seating plans. However, witnessing his seating position next to Verstappen, Russell chose to sit somewhere else instead.
One of the drivers at last night’s GPDA dinner told me that George Russell was last to arrive – and they had saved him a seat next to Max Verstappen. He declined to take the spot and moved his chair elsewhere….
Adam Cooper wrote on X
One of the drivers at last night's GPDA dinner told me that @GeorgeRussell63 was last to arrive – and they had saved him a seat next to @Max33Verstappen. He declined to take the spot and moved his chair elsewhere….
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) December 6, 2024
The fight between the two drivers has also escalated to their team principals. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff joined in and hit back at Red Bull supremo Christian Horner.
Max Verstappen takes a jibe at George Russell for overdramatizing incidents
The fight between George Russell and Max Verstappen is not expected to cool off anytime soon. The reigning champion continued taking digs at the 26-year-old for his actions in the stewards’ room in Qatar.
He has employed various tactics to take jibes at Russell in the past few days. Verstappen claimed that from the next time onward, he would bring tissues to the stewards’ room to over-dramatize the matter and push the officials into giving penalties to his rivals.
It was not that dramatic with the stewards last week. Maybe next time, I’ll bring tissues.
Max Verstappen said (via De Telegraaf)
Meanwhile, the duo will be focused on bagging the win for their respective teams at the season finale. This would give their team’s engineers much-needed motivation to continue their hard work in the off-season and prepare well for the 2025 season.
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Geetansh Pasricha
(772 Articles Published)