Max Verstappen delivered an x-rated team radio message directed at George Russell during the qualifying of the Canadian Grand Prix.
After hometown hero Charles Leclerc won at Monaco two weeks ago, Formula 1 returned this weekend with the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Heading into the race, it was billed that Verstappen would again face strong competition from the likes of Ferrari and McLaren.
However, Mercedes’ upgrades seemed to work a treat as they produced some very quick laps.
In Q2, Verstappen was far from happy with Russell as the Dutchman felt the Mercedes driver got in his way during a flying lap.
On his team radio, Verstappen said: “F**k sake man. Just move out of the way! I bet he did that on purpose.”
Eventually, the pair managed to record the exact same time of 1:12.000 in Q3 but Russell will start on pole as he did his lap before Verstappen.
This was only the second time that the pole position time has been tied since F1 timing went to three decimal places.
“Move out the way, I bet he did that on purpose!” 😡 Max Verstappen not happy at all with George Russell!
Speaking after the session, the reigning world champion said: “It’s how it is, right. I think overall we still had a good qualifying. The whole weekend has been still a bit tricky for us, but to be P2, I’d take it.
“Going into qualifying I would have definitely taken that. So that it was that close at the end makes it really exciting for tomorrow as well.”
Russell said: “Amazing. It feels so good. So much hard work at the factory has gone into this and we said it in Monaco, we hope this is the start of something for our season, and I think it is.
“I’ve missed this feeling. Excited for tomorrow. First step done, but now obviously we’ve got our eyes on that win.”
Asked if he can hold off Verstappen, the Brit replied: “Why not? Of course. Let’s go for it. The car has been feeling amazing since we brought some upgrades to Monaco, we have really been in that fight now. So we’re going for it tomorrow.”