Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner believes the war of words between Max Verstappen and George Russell should be sorted out “face to face” rather than through Formula 1 media.
Verstappen and Russell fell out of the former impeding the latter during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.
Following a stewards’ hearing, Verstappen said he “lost all respect” for how Russell handled the situation.
The Dutchman doubled down on that opinion in Abu Dhabi a week later, Russell called him a “bully,” before Verstappen replied with a jab calling the Mercedes driver a “backstabber.”
As barbs continued to be thrown in media sessions, press conferences and written press, Horner told Sky Sports F1 the best way to resolve the issue.
“Rather than doing it through the media, or through you guys, just go and have a conversation,” Horner said.
“Talk about it man-to-man, face-to-face. If you’ve got something to say, say it. And rather than ‘he said, she said,’ far better to address it that way.
“Many of these situations are often dealt with better on the padel court.”
Horner sides with Verstappen amid Russell debate
Amid all the crazy back-and-fourth verbal jousting, Russell accused Verstappen of threatening to crash into him in Qatar.
“I find it all quite ironic, considering Saturday night he said he’s going to purposely go out of his way to crash into me and, quote, ‘put me on my f***ing head in the wall’,” Russell told media including Motorsport Week.
Verstappen claimed that this was Russell “trying to thicken it up again,” telling De Telegraaf “That’s already not true, I didn’t say that.”
Horner told Sky Sports F1 Verstappen has “no reason to lie. He’s never lied before. He’ll tell you straight.
“And of course, Max wasn’t the only one in that steward room,” Horner added.
“Both the guys that were with him on our side came back, and they were a bit, ‘Wow. That was pretty punchy’ of how George approached that.”
Horner, who had already claimed Russell was “hysterical” in Qatar, much to Toto Wolff’s distaste, went on to question the Mercedes’ driver’s mindset.
“George had a bit of a rant [on Thursday, in Abu Dhabi],” Horner said.
“He was ranting in the car last weekend at his team for putting the wrong tyres on or whatever else.
“He’s obviously a bit wound-up at the moment.”
Commenting on Russell’s behaviour drew a startling comment from Wolff, who called his Red Bull counterpart a “yapping little terrier.”
Clearly in a joking mood, Horner’s response to that in an Abu Dhabi GP press conference was to say “I’d rather be a Terrier than a Wolff.”
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