George Russell has described his close shave with Max Verstappen during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix. Russell was forced to take avoiding action as he approached the rear of Verstappen's car at high speed while both drivers were on build-up laps. The Mercedes driver voiced his concern over the radio by labelling it as a “dangerous” incident. Verstappen has been called to see the stewards in Qatar regarding the matter. Russell has suggested his floor was damaged during the Q3 battle with Verstappen, with the pair almost coming to blows prior to their final hot laps. “I ended up going through the gravel, all over the floor earlier,” Russell said. “It felt like the floor was scraping over that kerb and through the gravel, so I hope it didn’t damage it. “Maybe that’s the reason why we didn’t improve, I don’t know. But it was a bit of a hairy one two corners before we started the lap.”
Russell takes dig at McLaren team orders
Russell is gunning for his fourth career win on Sunday and looks set to battle Verstappen, as well as the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, for the win. Russell had little chance of triumphing in the sprint earlier on Saturday with the McLaren drivers working together to form a 1-2. As he looks ahead to the grand prix, Russell aimed a dig at the team orders on display as he targets another race victory. “Hopefully we can have a proper race rather than this team orders stuff,” Russell said. “It’s going to be a good race. I think we’ll all be going for it. “It’s actually great that Max is in the mix as well. I was really surprised by their turnaround because they looked really off the pace yesterday, off the pace this morning. “Obviously they were both in Q3 and Max in pole, so I think we’ve got a good race on our hands.”
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