As we get ready to watch and obsess over the Canada Grand Prix this weekend, new reports about George Russell's true feelings have emerged.
GB News reported that George Russell gave his thoughts about Max Verstappen and the Red Bull driver's precarious position in the F1 standings.
For those who don't know, Verstappen was docked three penalty points and given a ten second time penalty after colliding with Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix. The ten second time penalty knocked Verstappen out of the Top 5. However, the three point penalty is the one that's most severe.
According to GB News, Verstappen only has one penalty point left before he suffers an automatic suspension. The outlet believes a suspension in this phase of the F1 calendar would end Verstappen's run towards a driver's championship.
And what does George Russell think of this development?
Well, as one might expect, George Russell doesn't mind Verstappen's current predicament at all. In fact, he applauds it.
"If he gets his 12 points, it wouldn't be unjust, you know," Russell said while discussing Verstappen's punishment with the media. "So that's literally why it's there."
While reflecting on his own race strategy moving forward, Russell said that he will "continue racing the exact same because at the end of the day, that's what I did last week, and I benefited from it."
GB News noted that George Russell sits 26 points behind Max Verstappen in the F1 Drivers' Championship standings. So, it would definitely help Russell if Max was forced to sit out a race or two.
Despite the drivers' heated rivalry on the track, they don't hate each other as people. In the same GB News report, George Russell clarified that he "totally forgot about Barcelona because [Verstappen] was there with his newborn."
While brief, Russell's comments on this topic showed that he's able to keep things in perspective. Despite the collision, Russell and Verstappen finished the Spanish Grand Prix without any injuries. As many F1 fans know, this is not always the case in the sport.
George Russell and the other F1 drivers will start practicing in Canada on Friday. On the 14th of June, or this Saturday, the drivers will compete in the qualifying round to determine Sunday's grid order.
Ironically, Max Verstappen won last year's edition of the race. George Russell finished third. So, if there wasn't enough heat surrounding this rivalry going into the weekend, this article just reminded you how long these two have been going at it with each other.