George Russell told he should’ve dealt with Max Verstappen feud “man to man”

Christian Horner believes George Russell should have discussed his feud with Max Verstappen “face to face” with the F1 champion instead of waging a war of words in the media.

Verstappen was left incensed with how he felt Russell behaved with the FIA stewards at the Qatar Grand Prix to get the Red Bull drive a penalty for an impeding incident in qualifying.

This ignited a bitter war of words between both of them, with Verstappen doubling down on his previous comments about Russell while the latter claimed the Red Bull driver said he would deliberately crash into him.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also waded in on Thursday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, branding Horner a “yapping little terrier” for calling Russell ‘hysterical’ in Qatar.

Horner responded to this on Friday, taking his own swipe at Wolff, while later noting after practice that he feels Russell should have privately talked the feud out with Verstappen.  

“Normally these things, rather than doing it through the media, just go and had a conversation: talk about it man to man, face to face,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“If you’ve got something to say, say it. Rather than ‘he said, she said’, far better to address it that way.

“They’ve raced each other since they were kids.

“They’ve known each other a lot, as these drivers many of them do, and I think many of these situations are often better dealt with on the paddle court.”

Horner also once again defended Verstappen’s version of events, noting that the Red Bull representatives alongside him in the stewards’ meeting felt Russel “was pretty punchy”.

The Red Bull team boss also pointed at a “rant” Russell had during the Qatar GP around the Verstappen fallout as proof the Briton is “a bit wound up at the moment”.

“He’s got no reason to lie, he’s never lied before,” he said.

“He’ll tell you straight. Of course, Max wasn’t the only one in that stewards’ room. Both the guys with him on our side came back and they were a bit ‘wow, that was pretty punchy of how George approached that’.

“It’s one of those things. I think the access you guys get compared to any other sport… put a camera in a changing room at a football match I’m sure there would be a bit of lively language there as well.

“We’re just focused on going racing, finishing off the season on a high note.

“George hat a bit of a rant yesterday, he was ranting in the car last weekend at his team for putting the wrong tyres on and whatever else. He’s obviously a bit wound up at the moment.”