The 2024 Formula 1 drivers sat down for their annual dinner on Thursday night and as to be expected Max Verstappen and George Russell were at opposite ends of the table.
Not even within eyesight of one another lest that go wrong, Lando Norris saw the funny side to the latest F1 feud.
Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix began with fireworks during Thursday’s media day as neither Russell nor Verstappen pulled their punches after their Qatar falling out.
“I’ve known Max for a long time, and I know what he’s capable of. And you know, he said to me, he’s gonna purposely go out his way to crash into me, ‘put me on my f**king head in the wall’,” Russell told the media, including PlanetF1.com.
“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, Checo was there, Carlos was there, and we were joking around a little bit, you know, I saw it in his eyes that he means it.”
Verstappen denied that, telling the Dutch media: “That’s already wrong, I didn’t say that. He’s trying to flesh it out again.
“You know what I can’t stand either? That he attacks me in an unacceptable way at the stewards and then comes running back a day later as if nothing is wrong and slaps me on the shoulders.”
A few hours later the rivals were seated at the same dinner table as the drivers marked the end of a gruelling 2024 campaign.
But, as Norris cheekily noted, they were not sitting next to each other. They weren’t even within eye line.
The McLaren driver posted a photograph of the dinner on Instagram, captioning it: “2024 dinner! and yes, the two your thinking about were sat as far away from each other as possible.”
Verstappen liked that.
Neither Aston Martin driver, Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll, attended the dinner while Kevin Magnussen was also absent as too was F1’s newest driver Jack Doohan.
However, Esteban Ocon, the driver he is replacing at Alpine for the final race of the season, joined the class of 2024 for the year-end meal.
As for who covered the bill or whether it was split cheques, the drivers haven’t said. In the past, it has been left to the season’s World Champion to pick up the tab but last year Max Verstappen didn’t attend as he had a prior engagement.
Former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg previously took to social media to let fans know about the secret ruling, saying: “The hidden agreement usually is that the world champion pays.”
But whether Verstappen would’ve comped Russell a free meal is doubtful.
“We don’t have to be best friends,” he said on Thursday. “That’s not why I’m here, to be best friends with him. That’s not my goal in the paddock, so I don’t care that much about it. “Especially if someone acts like that towards you in front of the stewards. I’m done with him for a while.”
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