Giving his take on what happened in the stewards’ room, Russell continued: “We went into the stewards’ [room], for the first five minutes I didn’t say a word because they were only talking to Max and he was already angry, swearing at the stewards, and then when they asked for my opinion I told them exactly the facts.

“I was following my delta time – we all have this lap time we have to follow. They also say if you’re driving slow you need to move off the line. I wasn’t trying to get Max a penalty – at this point in qualifying I was in first position, I don’t even think Max was in second position at this point.

“I was just trying to prepare my lap, he was 20 seconds too slow on his lap, he was parked in the middle, and I didn’t argue with the stewards. But Max was very angry that I didn’t support him, because he was expecting me to say, ‘No problem, what Max did was okay’.

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“It wasn’t crazy dangerous, and was the penalty harsh? Maybe it was a little bit harsh, but these are the rules. We all have the rules and we all have to follow it. I would love to go 20 seconds slower on my preparation lap to get my tyres ready, but I didn’t.

“I went to speak with him on Sunday morning, it was myself, Max, Checo [Perez] and Carlos [Sainz]. We almost laughed about it, but I could see in his eyes that he was angry, and the words that he said, he meant it. For me that was very surprising.

“I haven’t got him disqualified, it almost feels like he expects a double standard, and if it’s not going his way then there’s no way, and that’s not how the sport works.