George Russell and Max Verstappen will no longer be best or even good friends, at least in their Formula 1 life together. Some statements from the Mercedes driver that can be heard in the new season of the Netflix hit “Drive to Survive” suggest how much tension there is between the two alpha animals.
Previously unpublished statements from George Russell about Max Verstappen, which can only now be heard in the current “Drive to Survive” season, clearly show how skeptical the Mercedes driver is towards his “arch enemy”.
“The Verstappens clearly have a lot of power in this team,” said Russell when the drama surrounding ex-Red Bull team boss Christian Horner came up. Russell made further accusations and said: “You [Max und Jos Verstappen] like to manipulate situations, quite often.”
This was also the case around Horner’s dismissal, Russell revealed his view of things. “For whatever reason they don’t like Horner and are trying to get rid of him.”
Russell smells dirty Verstappen play
In this context, Russell also wondered whether the long-running rumors about Verstappen’s move to Mercedes were deliberately spread as a means of pressure. “I wonder if this is some kind of game to put pressure on Red Bull so that he [Verstappen] only remains if Christian [Horner] works,” the Mercedes driver speculated.
Horner himself viewed the matter somewhat differently. He did admit that he had problems with Jos Verstappen. In his opinion, however, the driving force behind his dismissal was Oliver Mintzlaff, “the one from Helmut [Marko] was advised,” Horner said in front of the Netflix cameras.
Video: Red Bull on fire: Vettel racer burns
The new “Drive to Survive” season will be released on February 27th. However, a few trailers have already been released in advance, in which explosive details can be seen and heard. The Russell suspicion against the Verstappen camp is one of them.
