Verstappen proves Russell right: Abu Dhabi GP 2024 – Up/Down

Max Verstappen is the best driver in F1 now, there’s no doubt about it.

When he has the car to dominate, he’s devastating. When his Red Bull machine is below par, he’ll still squeeze every last drop out of it, dragging it to places it doesn’t deserve to be.

He knows all the rules, and just how to play them – as demonstrated when fighting Lando Norris this year. When on the back foot, Verstappen had to show Norris who was boss, and he did so.

The four-time champion plays a great villain (if you’re not Dutch), pushing things to the limit.

But he does have one weakness. If you do fight as hard as him, talk as tough as him, get in up in his grille, then he simply can’t handle it. It occurs rarely, because most don’t dare to do it.

It’s happened once before in his fight with Lewis Hamilton in 2021, particularly when the Mercedes driver gave him a taste of his own medicine at Silverstone that year. Verstappen’s driving style – both attacking and defending – is Senna-esque, leaving the opponent with no choice: ‘Concede, or we’ll crash etc’.

It happened again this weekend at the first corner, when Verstappen hopefully put his nose up the inside of Oscar Piastri. Was the McLaren just supposed to get out the way? The Dutchman conceded his “mistake” this time, but his driving conformed to type.

When Hamilton gave it back at that infamous ‘21 British GP, Verstappen and his team were incandescent. But why? The Brit was only doing what the Red Bull driver does almost every time to everyone else.

The most recent war of words erupted between Russell and Verstappen in a squabble over delta times, preparation laps and staying off-line.

You know, the stuff that really gets GP fans excited.

That F1’s ‘Head Prefect’ George Russell completely let rip in a delightful extra-long diatribe said quite a lot.

The Kings Lynn hero went a bit Alanis Morrisette (he’s probably a fan) in saying that it was “ironic” that Verstappen can essentially dish it out but can’t take it.

The media-trained grid – particularly Norris – are pretty good at holding back their real opinion of each other in moments of contention, but you got the impression that Russell (who is the GPDA president after all) was expressing what much of the rest of the drivers think…

Going Up

Formula Partridge goes at it

Someone’s got to tell him – so you tell him Alan!

That’s right, Formula Partridge (George Russell) has had enough of this nonsense.

It’s just not right! All jokes aside, his words on Verstappen seemed pretty on point:

“I find his comments pretty ironic when he comes out and says, ‘I’m going to purposefully crash into you, I’m going to put you on your f*****g head in the wall’ – for me that isn’t acceptable and he’s gone beyond the line here, and I’m not going to accept it. So somebody’s got to stand up to a guy like this before it gets out of control,” raged Alan.

“All of this is racing, but he’s felt the need to take it personal. I have no idea why he’s done that, and he cannot deal with adversity.

“Whenever anything is not going his way, he lashes out with unnecessary anger and borderline violence. We’ve seen it in Brazil in the past with [Esteban] Ocon, we saw it in ’21 with Lewis [Hamilton], in Mexico with Lando, first race of the year in Budapest when he didn’t have the most dominant car, crashes into Lewis, slamming his whole team.

“That is not a guy who I respect, and I wish he would be a better role model.”

Quite.

Macca’s back

The Orange team wasn’t even sure if it would make the start of the 2021 season after Covid left it financially on the “brink” according to CEO Zak Brown, it needing extra investment via a cash injection to get it through.

Things weren’t looking great at the start of last year either, when McLaren was 5sec off pole at Bahrain’s season-opener.

But then team boss Andrea Stella got Woking working again, and within two seasons it’s become constructors’ champion again – 26 years after its last.

Wonder what Ron Dennis makes of it all?

Abu Dhabi redesign

Hamilton rocketing to fourth from 16th was exactly what the seven-time champ needed before his departure to Maranello.

His last-lap pass on team-mate Russell also showed that a number of recent profiling changes to the Yas Marina circuit, including adding some positive camber to Turn 9 where he made the overtake, have actually improved the circuit a bit.

Let’s face it though, overall, it’s still rubbish.

F2 proves itself at last

The FIA’s junior ladder (AKA Battle of the Rich Kids) and F1 itself has badly let itself down in recent years due to the fact that winning the second-tier championship offers no realistic hope of making it to the top.

Oscar Piastri (2021), Felipe Drugovich (2022) and Theo Pourchaire (2023) all found themselves without an F1 drive after winning in F2.

Piastri was eventually rescued (or nicked, depending on your viewpoint) by McLaren after Alpine dithered, but Drugovich and Pourchaire are still on the sidelines.

It’s refreshing, then, that Gabriel Bortoletto, crowned 2024 F2 champ in Abu Dhabi, will be racing for Sauber-di in 2025.

Here’s hoping next year’s car is better than the last one.

Life in the old dog

At the start of the season, this column likened Alpine’s ’24 challenger to the hopeless Life L190 (we stand by those comments).

The team has done a remarkable job since then, in F1’s most competitive-ever field, to haul itself back to sixth in the constructors’ title race.

The fight was revived by a brilliant double podium for Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly in Brazil, but it’s been the latter who’s really carried the team by becoming a regular point-scorer in recent races.

Having inherited what would be best described as a listing corporate vehicle, it appears the new dynamic duo of Oliver Oakes and Flavio Briatore – with added Gasly magic – are helping to enable the people at Enstone to focus on the job.

Here’s hoping the progress can continue and the field tightens up even more.

Real racer

While others past their F1-best cling on to miserable reserve roles and the like, it’s good to see Kevin Magnussen crack straight on by signing up to BMW’s WEC team.

Heartwarming that some drivers want to actually win races, rather than just hang round the GP paddock.

Going Down

Painful ending

Bottas summed up his three-year tenure at Sauber by locking up after being passed by the above-mentioned Magnussen, absolutely spearing the Dane off the track and breaking his own suspension.

Prior to the race, the Finn described his decision to join the Swiss squad three years ago as a “mistake”. Brutal.

Back to school for Red Bull’s junior team

A campaign which at times showed promise has ultimately fallen flat for RB.

With neither driver having scored since Vegas, it was looking tricky to overhaul Alpine and Haas. When Tsunoda stalled on the grid, the forecast became even bleaker.

Neither he nor Lawson looked a threat and the choice for Sergio Perez’s replacement at Red Bull looks as tough as ever.

Will Horner and Marko begrudgingly promote Tsunoda, who took more points in his debut season than Daniel Ricciardo or Daniil Kvyat did in the year before they went to the senior team, or the untested Lawson?

Driest driver

Oscar Piastri proved himself to once more be F1’s driest wit after being punted off at the first corner by Verstappen.

“Move of a world champion, that,” he said. You have to laugh.