F1 News: Max Verstappen takes shot at George Russell in untelevised team radio

Russell and Verstappen looking annoyed with orange army background in Austria — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen takes shot at George Russell in untelevised F1 team radio

The Austrian Grand Prix saw both drivers on the podium

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 30 June 2026 12:30

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Four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen made a joke at George Russell's expense during the Austrian Grand Prix, which was not shown on the live broadcast.

Verstappen finished second in the race, his best result of the season so far, and came in behind Mercedes' Russell, who claimed just his second grand prix victory of the season.

Russell's day was made easier by the fact that he had put in a brilliant performance during qualifying on Saturday to take pole position, before converting it for the full 25-point haul.

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But his pole position lap on Saturday had a hint of controversy surrounding it. Verstappen had crashed late in Q3, leaving his car stranded in the barriers at the penultimate turn of the circuit.

Russell was on a flying lap and saw the single-waved yellow flag, lifting off the throttle sufficiently enough to appease FIA stewards while still setting the fastest time of the session.

But the double-waved yellow flags - meaning abort the lap and be prepared to stop - were waved just 15 seconds after Russell had gone past, with Verstappen's car clearly stranded.

Nevertheless, the FIA cleared Russell of any wrongdoing, and his supreme knowledge of the flags allowed him to still complete a scorching lap.

But it seems as though Verstappen hasn't forgotten about it.

Verstappen jokes about Russell flag incident

Approaching a stranded Carlos Sainz on the start-finish straight at the Red Bull Ring during the race, Verstappen was told over team radio to be cautious, with double-waved yellow flags being brought out by Sainz's incident.

Verstappen slowed down going past Sainz's stricken car, but took to team radio to joke around with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

"That means flat out, right, past the car?," he cheekily asked, before adding: "I'm joking!"

Verstappen's comment was not aired by Sky Sports F1 during the live coverage, but would have made a few in the Red Bull garage chuckle.

Verstappen and Russell clearly know what each of the flags mean, while Kimi Antonelli may have to work on that a little bit in the coming week, having admitted after qualifying that he had aborted his lap thinking that it was a double-waved yellow being shown after Verstappen's crash.

F1 RESULTS: Austrian Grand Prix final classification with all penalties applied