Max Verstappen mocks George Russell with cheeky yellow flag radio joke in F1 Austrian GP
Max Verstappen couldn't resist a cheeky joke over team radio during the Austrian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen joked with his Formula 1 race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase that a yellow flag meant he could push “flat-out” during the Austrian Grand Prix.
Four-time world champion Verstappen’s quip over team radio was a reference to Mercedes rival George Russell’s pole position lap in a dramatic qualifying on Saturday.
Russell controversially snatched pole with a last-gasp improvement in a thrilling conclusion to Q3 in Austria, despite passing yellow flags for a heavy crash for Verstappen.
A single yellow was initially shown before it was upgraded to double yellows, at which point Russell had already gone through.
Mercedes and Russell were able to prove through data traces that the Briton lifted 100 metres early as he approached the scene of Verstappen’s Turn 9 incident.
But Verstappen couldn’t help but throw light at the situation during Sunday’s grand prix in an untelevised radio exchange.
Carlos Sainz caused yellow flags and a virtual safety car period when his Williams broke down on the start-finish straight.
Lambiase was quick to warn Verstappen of the incident, informing his driver: “Yellow [at] Turn 10, double yellows across the start/finish line. Yellow here and double yellows.”
In a quick-witted response, Verstappen said: “That means flat-out, right? Past the car?”, before quickly clarifying: “I’m joking.”
Verstappen charged from fifth on the grid to claim second place in Sunday’s race to secure Red Bull’s best result of the season.
The Dutchman had an 11-second deficit after his final pit stop but made short work of catching Russell, though he ultimately fell 1.6 seconds short of the win at the chequered flag.
Asked if Red Bull should have pitted first to undercut Russell, Verstappen told Sky Sports F1: "In hindsight, it's easier to say that but we will look back at it.
“It was still going to be a long stint on the tyres, but at the same time, my degradation was a bit better than George, so I'm pretty confident I could have kept him behind.
"It's still a very good result after quite some tough times, lately being better, now for the first time fighting for a win. That's a good step."
In this article
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
