“Max races Lewis differently,” Toto Wolff blasts Max Verstappen for particularly targeting Lewis Hamilton

Toto Wolff has commented on what he felt about Max Verstappen's altercation with George Russell at the Azerbaijan GP.

“Max races Lewis differently,” Toto Wolff blasts Max Verstappen for particularly targeting Lewis Hamilton

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix had returned after a long break of three weeks after the Aussie GP, and it brought with it a massive amount of drama. Since the FIA wanted to try out their new Sprint rules with the Baku race, the weekend was filled with several events such as the Sprint Shootout. During the Sprint Race, Max Verstappen had a clash with George Russell from Mercedes. Now, the Dutchman’s rivalry with Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton is well known but this time, for a change, Max clashed with the second Merc driver.

Max Verstappen’s encounter with George Russell at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix sprint race made fans wonder if the 25-year-old particularly targeted Mercedes drivers. To this, the Stuttgart-based team’s boss Toto Wolff disagreed, saying that Max’s rivalry is not on a team level, but on a personal level with the seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

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Verstappen was left furious after Saturday’s Baku F1 sprint race when he felt George Russell had unnecessarily made contact with him as they battled for third position in the first corners of the race. It did not stop there as Max confronted George after the race, at the parc ferme, and he called the latter a ‘d***head’ as he was furious with the Briton.

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Toto Wolff

It all started at the F1 Baku Sprint Race, when Max Verstappen appeared vexed at George Russell because he felt that the Briton had made unnecessary contact with him. As the two were vying for the third spot in the Baku Sprint, they had a contact for a split second. Previously, Max and the other Mercedes racer, Lewis Hamilton, have had their fair share of clashes. This left the question whether Max specifically target Mercedes drivers, to which, Toto Wolff said “No, I think Max races Lewis differently. But between the same generation drivers, they are all fierce, but they know each other so well.“

It has already been seen how George Russell outscored Lewis Hamilton in his debut year at Mercedes. So, it might be that Max Verstappen views Russell as a bigger threat at the moment than Lewis. In the end, it still remains to be seen who comes out of the F1 2023 season at the top since Red Bull is in a thundering form right now, Mercedes is in recovery mode, and after the Azerbaijan GP, noone can claim that Ferrari is underperforming after that Charles Leclerc pole.

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