Verstappen has already received warning after foul-mouthed comment

F1 season preview as Max Verstappen looks to defend world title

Max Verstappen’s fiery temperament rose to the surface in Azerbaijan on Saturday, leaving himself open to criticism after laying into George Russell for a scrape in the sprint race. The Red Bull star was similarly to-the-point after last year’s Grand Prix in Baku, where he was warned and told to reign in his language while discussing Charles Leclerc’s mechanical failure.

With a third consecutive world title on the line, Verstappen’s temper boiled over on Saturday after Russell took an aggressive approach to pass him on Lap 1 of the sprint race. Slight contact with the Mercedes left a gaping hole in the side of the Red Bull, causing Verstappen to lose out on performance as he failed to catch up with Leclerc, leaving him in third.

Having missed out on valuable Championship points, the Dutchman confronted Russell after the chequered flag, warning him to expect similarly aggressive behaviour next time they meet on the track. His anger continued during his post-race interviews, referring to the 25-year-old as ‘Princess George’.

While things were not quite so confrontational over the course of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend in 2022, Verstappen did land himself in the bad books of a press conference moderator after clinching victory.

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Leclerc, who was Verstappen’s main title rival last year, suffered an unfortunate mechanical failure while leading the race in Baku. When asked about it, the Red Bull man expressed no sympathy and delivered an X-rated response.

“S*** happens,” he told reporters. “It happened to me too and it is part of racing. After that, it is important as a team to ensure that it does not happen again.”

Verstappen was then issued a warning by the press conference moderator, who asked the two-time world champion to keep his answers clean. “Come on,” he responded. “That’s not really a swear!” With the media session subsequently brought to a close, the Dutchman joked that he would use foul language earlier next time as a means to avoid carrying out his press duties.

Sky Sports were also forced to apologise on Saturday after their microphones picked up Verstappen calling Russell a ‘d***head’ following their minor sprint collision.

Unfortunately for drama-loving F1 fans, the pair are unlikely to go wheel-to-wheel again on Sunday with Verstappen qualifying second on the grid and Russell, who sorely lacked pace on Friday, taking 11th and failing to make it through to Q3.

There could be fireworks out front, however, as Leclerc set the fastest lap, while Verstappen’s team-mate, Sergio Perez, will hope to make up ground from third on the grid.

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