Last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix was a turbulent race on and off the track. Max Verstappen got a rare one grid position penalty for driving "unnecessarily slowly" during a preparation lap in qualifying on Saturday, mitigated by the fact that it wasn't a push lap, which would have meant the usual three-grid position.
The stewards ruled that Verstappen had impeded George Russell, and with Verstappen's penalty they both changed positions in the Sunday race. It didn't ended up mattering much, as Verstappen passed Russell in the first lap, who ended up 4th.
It was Russell who complained to the stewards about Verstappen's actions, who "couldn't believe" that Russell "was trying to screw him over" after an action which he thought was "trying to be nice".
"Actually, I just tried to be nice, so maybe I shouldn't be nice. I didn't want to screw anyone over to prepare their lap. And by doing that, being nice, basically you get a penalty".
Verstappen has "lost all respect" for George Russell
The already four time F1 World Champion took Russell's complaints really badly, even saying "I've never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard", after Russell insisted to the stewards that Verstappen should get a penalty, leading them to take back this very unusual penalty.
"And that, for me, I lost all respect" he said.
Verstappen went further in Dutch TV Viaplay, saying "he acts politely in front of the camera here, but when you talk to him personally, he is a different person ... I can't stand that", as caught by ESPN.