Verpappen on punishment: I lost any respect for Russell!

Verpappen on punishment: I lost any respect for Russell!

Lusail International Circuit, Katar, Katar - Max Verstappen, who was already as a world champion, caused excitement during qualifying to the Grand Prix of Qatar and received a controversial punishment. The Red Bull Pilot was accused by the racing commissioners to have driven unnecessarily slowly during its cool-down round. In the critical phase of qualifying, there was almost a collision with Mercedes driver George Russell, which could only prevent an accident through a quick evasive maneuver. Jenson Button, former Formula 1 world champion, was shocked by the decision of the racing commissioners, since Fernando Alonso, who drove before Verstappen, was also not punished. Button emphasized that Verstappen only kept the pace of the in front Alonso, which makes the punishment appear incredible, as krone.at reports .

After the commissioners had imposed the punishment who put Verstappen back to second place, the latter expressed his frustration about the course of Russell, who was held responsible for the punishment with his rapid reaction. Verstappen described the situation with the racing commissioners as disappointing and he lost any respect for Russell because he had to "ever see it so aggressively" in the meeting. Despite the punishment, Verstappen did not let himself be stopped and dominated the race by pushing himself past Russell in the first curve and getting victory at the Lusail international Circuit. Russell could not convert the excitement into the points and finally ended the race in fourth place after he himself had to set a penalty of five seconds, because of the violation of the safety distance rule during the safety car phase, such as The New York Times .