Mercedes now ready for Red Bull war again as F1 2021 repeat brews

These pretty routine driver briefings on a Thursday are normally humdrum affairs, with the media getting the chance to quiz drivers on recent events ahead of the weekend – usually focusing more on tyre chat, some reflection on incidents from the previous weekend, and the standard display of optimism about getting some modicum of performance out of their cars.

But there was nothing standard about this particular media session. As George Russell showed up to begin his scheduled 10-minute address to the assembled print media, the Mercedes hospitality unit was jammed full of journalists – it’s always the sign of brewing drama that such a session will pack out.

Abu Dhabi GP sees extraordinary war of words escalate

“I’ve known Max for a long time, I know what he’s capable of,” George Russell mused as he spoke to media, including PlanetF1.com, in a dramatic press conference on Thursday at Abu Dhabi.

The atmosphere was electric as Russell was asked to address the comments made by Verstappen in the FIA press conference earlier on Thursday, in which the Dutch driver had doubled down on his position that Russell had lied to the stewards during their meeting last Saturday in Qatar.

It had been a rapid escalation of events from the previous week, when the pair had encountered each other on a cooldown lap – Russell having approached the back of Verstappen with some speed, with the reigning World Champion having seemingly been unaware of Russell’s approach.

The incident, which attracted the attention of the stewards despite neither being on a flying lap, resulted in both Verstappen and Russell talking to the stewards. Whatever went on behind closed doors infuriated Verstappen, particularly as Russell’s case worked – Verstappen was given an unusual (but with precedent) one-place grid penalty. While he started behind Russell on the front row, he brushed the British driver aside at the start to swoop through and worked his way to the win.

With Verstappen’s race engineer GianPiero Lambiase getting on the radio to state that it was “karma”, Verstappen showed how wound up he was as he claimed to have “lost all respect for Russell” – this was due to what Verstappen had viewed as dishonest behaviour in the meeting with the stewards.

Later, speaking to Dutch media, Verstappen said: “You know what it is? He acts decent in front of the camera here, but when you talk to him personally, he is it is a different person. I can’t stand that. In that case you can better f**k off.”

Verstappen is then reported to have told Russell, ahead of the Qatar race, that he hoped he “and his FIA mates/buddies are happy with what you’ve done.”

The matter has escalated significantly as Abu Dhabi – usually a race with an expectant holiday feel as everyone prepares to fly home and take a well-earned break – kicked off with an explosive media day.

In an interview with a small number of media representatives, Russell said: “I find it all quite ironic, considering Saturday night he said he’s going to purposely go out of his way to crash into me and, quote, ‘put me on my f**king head in the wall.”

“To question somebody’s integrity as a person, while saying comments like that the day before, I find it very ironic, and I’m not going to sit here and accept it.

“People have been bullied by Max for years now, and you can’t question his driving abilities. But he cannot deal with adversity whenever anything has gone against him.

“Jeddah ’21, Brazil ’21, he lashes out. Budapest this year, very first race, the car wasn’t dominant, crashing into Lewis, slamming his team.

“As I said, for me, those comments on Saturday night and Sunday were totally disrespectful and unnecessary, because what happens on track, we fight hard. It’s part of racing.

“What happens in the steward’s room? You fight hard, but it’s never personal. But you know, he’s taking it too far now.”

The Russell v Verstappen war of words spread across the F1 paddock

Horner a ‘yappy little terrier’ as Toto Wolff joins Verstappen v Russell battle

Lando Norris delivers his verdict on Verstappen v Russell spat in Abu Dhabi

Following the publication of these comments, Verstappen was asked for his thoughts on whether he had any regrets about making them.

“No. No regrets at all, because I meant everything I said,” he said.

“And it’s still the same. If I had to do it again, maybe I would have said even more, knowing the outcome of the race result. I still can’t believe that someone can be like that in a Stewards’ room. For me, that was so unacceptable, because I mean, we’re all racing drivers. We all have a lot of respect for each other.

“We even play sports together. You travel together. And of course, you have moments where you get together, you crash or whatever. You’re not happy. In my whole career, I’ve never experienced what I have experienced in the Stewards’ room in Qatar. And for me, that was really unacceptable.”

It’s against this backdrop that Russell picked up the microphone to address a room of ravenous journalists in Abu Dhabi, with the atmosphere in the room going from expectant to intense as Mercedes’ team boss Toto Wolff walked into the room to stand beside Russell – a very rare occurrence for what is supposed to be a non-descript session.

“He said to me he’s going to purposely go out of his way to crash into me, putting my f**king head in the wall,” Russell said.

“I knew that was a bit of a heat-of-the-moment thing. But when I went to see him the next day at the driver’s parade, when Checo [Perez] was there, when Carlos [Sainz] was there, and we were joking around a little bit, I saw it in his eyes that he means it. And, you know, he’s a four-time world champion.

“When I compare his actions to the ones of Lewis, Lewis is the sort of world champion who I aspire to be like. The way he fought Max in ’21 is hard. Very hard, it’s fair. But never beyond the line. And I think we’ve also got a duty as drivers.

“I’ve got an eight-year-old nephew who’s just started go-karting, who watches all of my races, watches TikTok, watches YouTube. And for a world champion to come out saying he’s going to go out of his way to crash into someone and put them on their effing head, that is not the sort of role model we should be.”

The antagonism of F1 2021 season springs back to the forefront

The nature of Mercedes’ 2021 title loss to Red Bull has left deep, deep scarring on the Brackley-based squad. The trauma for Mercedes of that fateful night at this very circuit three years ago is something very difficult to shake off, even if Russell himself wasn’t directly driving for the team at that point.

It’s perhaps no surprise that, at this venue, the ghosts of that experience are putting Mercedes in the mood for a fight.

The long-standing rivalry between Wolff and Horner, which has cooled in the past three years as Red Bull and Mercedes diverged in different directions of performance at the start of 2022, had become little more than occasional potshots, but the converging of Red Bull with their pursuers heading into the final year of the regulations means the two titans are more likely to compete with each other once again.

Red Bull and McLaren threatened to spill over into outright war on occasion this season, but the spark to set the smoldering embers ablaze never arrived. For Red Bull and Mercedes, it is a blaze that has been taken under control after 2021, but never extinguished.

But, as Russell pointed out, the increased vulnerability of Verstappen and Red Bull means more victories for others – and Russell believes the Dutch driver can’t handle this.

“He cannot deal with adversity,” he said.

“He’s had the most dominant car in racing history for two and a half years. I’m not questioning his driving abilities one single bit.

“But the second he does not have the fastest car… let’s take Budapest as an example. He crashes into Lewis. He slams his whole team and he loses the plot. You know, straight away after that race, 25 percent of his engineering team were sending their CVs to Mercedes, to McLaren, to Aston Martin. Because they said they can’t deal with a guy like that.

“And since Austria, he’s won the same number of races as six other drivers. So when you say, is Max beatable? Of course, he’s beatable. You know, when he’s in the most dominant car, he is not beatable. The same way as Lewis and I, when we had the most dominant car, in Silverstone, in Las Vegas, we were not beatable either.”

A topic which has arisen on numerous occasions this year has been whether or not Verstappen’s willingness to blur the lines of what’s fair and what’s acceptable on-track has come as a result of him never being reeled in by Horner.

In Russell’s eyes, this is crystal clear – as he leaned into an example from that contentious ’21 season.

“I think he’s been enabled because nobody has stood up to him. Lewis stood up to him in 2021. And Lewis lost that championship unfairly,” he said.

“Could you imagine the roles being reversed? Max losing that championship and the man of that Lewis. Lewis lost that championship. I mean, Masi would be fearing for his life.

“As I said, some of the recent incidents, he has been punished. And he punished himself. Mexico with the reckless overtakes. Budapest with the reckless overtake.

“But it’s just in the past. He has such a dominant car. He’s not been in this position. So, I think the FIA are pretty on it now. And I don’t think much needs to change from their viewpoint because he’s going to punish himself one way or another.”

Are Mercedes putting themselves in a battling mindset once again?

While McLaren found themselves bested by Red Bull in 2024, with Horner choosing not to respond publicly to comments made by Andrea Stella or Zak Brown, Mercedes is a team that knows how to go to war.

This is a team that, in 2016, even handled its own civil war as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg knocked lumps out of each other in their quest for the title.

2021 saw the on-track battle intensify into an aggressive, but never personal, title fight between Hamilton and Verstappen, while Horner and Wolff – and, by association, Red Bull and Mercedes – fell into their roles as warring opponents.

The hostility and acrimony between the two sides was thick, and it’s clear this edge of dislike hasn’t faded in the intervening years.

What is clear is that Russell is getting himself into the mentality required for what could be a huge title fight next season. Hamilton is one of very few drivers who has shown himself able to handle Verstappen’s aggression and talents, and Russell has been a keen student – he’s now ready to step out from Hamilton’s shadow and become the team leader.

2024 was a clear example of how mental strength plays a huge factor in a title fight, with Norris learning – too late – what he needed to do to beat Verstappen. Russell seems to have a far stronger idea of how to do this – as well as being fast and aggressive on-track, he shows a more adept understanding of the political sphere and, most importantly, seems to understand how to play mind games back.

Toto Wolff, also eager to get involved by way of lambasting Horner as a “yappy little terrier” over Horner branding Russell’s Qatar tactics as “hysterical”, has also thrown the match on the fire.

At a time when the sport is usually switching off and winding down, full of bonhomie at the prospect of some time at home, the long season has instead disintegrated into vitriol and antagonism – and it’s the two most successful teams of the past 10 years now at each other’s throats.

All this would suggest that a repeat of 2021 is brewing. There’s no cheery-bye, “have a wonderful Christmas” feel to this weekend, and Wolff and Russell have now shown they are ready for the fight.

Read next: Christian Horner and Toto Wolff: A history of Formula 1’s odd couple