Russell sends 'more united than ever' message amid FIA tensions

George Russell insists the 20 drivers in F1 are "more united than ever" ahead of a new season that looks set to be fraught with further tensions between the FIA and the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA). 

The 27-year-old is a GPDA director and has recently been joined in the role by Carlos Sainz, who fills the vacancy left by Sebastian Vettel when he retired from F1 at the end of 2022.

Last season, a number of F1 drivers, including Max Verstappen, butted heads with the FIA for numerous reasons.

For the Red Bull driver, it was his use of the F-word during a press conference at the Singapore Grand Prix that saw him handed what was tantamount to community service as a punishment, which in turn sparked the four-time F1 drivers' champion into holding his own impromptu media sessions in the paddock for the remainder of the weekend.

It escalated to the point the GPDA felt it necessary to put out a statement admonishing the actions of the governing body's president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who had been using the media as a mouth piece to get his opinions across.

One such incident came only hours prior to Verstappen's slip of the tongue, when Ben Sulayem called out the use of foul language from F1 drivers in an interview.

Whilst tensions did begin to dissipate after the GPDA's social media post, the FIA's move to clampdown on swearing - amongst other things - could lead to the two bodies being at odds once again.

It was a situation Russell alluded to when asked by RacingNews365 for his feelings on Sainz becoming a fellow GPDA director.

"It's great to have Carlos as part of the GPDA," Russell told the media present. "Obviously, [he is] a great driver, a really smart, wise individual - and has been around for a long time.

"And of course, in the past, there was always more than one driver director, but since Sebastian [Vettel retired], it's just been myself for the last couple of years, so I'm happy that the other questions can be shared out a little bit more evenly between me and another driver.

"But I think, for all of us as 20, we're probably more united than ever, especially with everything that's going on off track.

"And to have Carlos as one of the senior voices as well, I think is a great addition."