© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
In an amusing statement, George Russell says Max Verstappen’s “threat of retirement” is just “whinging”, and part of a “big tactic” to get more money.
While talking to journalists at the British Grand Prix, Max Verstappen said a 24-race calendar, which is planned for 2024, is “not helping” when it comes to his desire to retire from Formula 1 relatively early.
He has previously said he could be on his way out of the sport when his current Red Bull contract expires at the end of 2028.
When asked about this, George Russell said he thinks it’s all a ploy to get more money.
“I think he’s whinging because he wants more money!” George said with a smile.
“He’s the highest-paid on this grid and rightly so for what he’s achieving, but even so, I think it’s all a big tactic of his, that threat of retirement.
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“I hope he doesn’t, I hope he stays for as long as I stay because I want to fight against the best drivers in the world.
“I’m head-to-head with Lewis [Hamilton] at the moment and I want to be doing that with Max and Charles [Leclerc] etc, and I think we’re in a really great place at the moment as a sport.”
George’s choice of words here is quite amusing, as many F1 fans have given Red Bull team boss Christian Horner the nickname ‘Whinger’.
When asked what his own thoughts are on the ever-expanding F1 calendar, George said:
“I mean, I hear Max’s comments all the time. I’m doing what I love that I’m almost ‘the more the merrier’.
“We’re the most fortunate, privileged people in the world to be Formula 1 drivers.
“Of course, there’s a huge amount of events, there’s a lot of things that come with it. I’d happily take more races but less commitments outside of the race weekend.
“I know obviously, Red Bull probably work them quite hard on a marketing perspective.
“Happy to see the season being a bit more geographical, and more efficient for costs and whatnot, it’s still going to be pretty brutal for all of us travelling to and from the races, especially the first four races, I think, Australia, Japan, China.
“Again, it’s a work in progress and it’s going in the right direction,” Russell concluded.
