Canadian GP: Max Verstappen lashes out over license points issue that could lead to ban
Red Bull racing driver Max Verstappen called the talk around his possible race ban as childish ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Verstappen is on the verge of a possible race ban after a collision with Mercedes' George Russell lost him three points, taking his tally to 11.
'I don't need to hear it again, it's really p****** me off,' said Verstappen ahead of the Canadian GP. 'You're speaking about it on Thursday… It's such a waste of time. It's very childish. That's why I also don't want to say too much because it's really annoying, this world that we live in.'
Verstappen will need a clean racing weekend at Canada and then at Austria to avoid suspension.
After narrowly taking pole position for Sunday's race, George Russell made light of the license points situations and said, 'We're mates, so it's all good. I have a few more points on my licence to play with so let's see.'
'I'm not going to race any differently, there's no reason for me to do that,' he said.
Russell then said that he expects Verstappen to not care about the points and actually make a point about not caring about the penalty.
'He's obviously got more to lose than I have but he'll probably try and prove a point that he's not scared of these penalty points, or whatever.
'But at the end of the day, just focus on yourself. If I make a good start and I'm leading by Turn 1 and if we're the quickest, in theory you should drive off.
'But I know it's not going to be as simple as that. But no, I'm not concerned about it.'
Saturday's qualification ended with Russell edging past Verstappen by 0.16 seconds and then McLaren's Oscar Piastri completing the Top 3.
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