Mercedes’ George Russell moves on from Verstappen incident, confirms no air to be cleared’ ahead of Miami Grand Prix
Mercedes driver George Russell stated that he had moved on from the incident with Max Verstappen, both on and off the track, after a tense exchange during the Azerbaijan Sprint that involved an apology from Russell and a heated response from Verstappen.
The matter was resolved in Miami, where Verstappen confirmed he had no issues with Russell, and Russell expressed his perspective on the situation.
“I mean, from my side there’s no air to be cleared,” he said. “I’ll welcome and say hello to him if he passes by and I’m sure we’ll shake hands when we bump into each other. For me, it’s history now, and it’s behind us, so my views to him are still the same – I still respect him and think he’s a great driver. Obviously things are said in the heat of the moment but yeah, we move on.”
He added: “I’ll continue racing the same way as I always would.
“I mean, a lot’s been said about that coming together but from my side it’s pretty straightforward: went for a move, got the move done, and obviously he was pretty upset about it. But, you know, that’s racing and these things happen. We’re all here to fight, and that’s what F1’s about.”
Mercedes is in the third position on the leaderboard ahead of the second Miami Grand Prix, following the previous race in Azerbaijan where Lewis Hamilton finished sixth and his teammate George Russell finished eighth.
“Clearly our car isn’t quick enough; we need to continue to do a better job and we’ll go again this weekend,” Russell said. “Hopefully it’ll be a slightly smoother weekend and we can battle it out with Aston Martin and Ferrari.
“I think last year for all of us, [Miami] was one of the toughest races of the season but I think it’s exciting when it’s difficult. Nobody wants an easy ride and it gives you an opportunity to do something different from the rest.”
(Statements from F1 official)