Norris, Russell relationships still on track - Verstappen

Max Verstappen says his relationships with two separate Formula 1 rivals are still on track.

The quadruple world champion fell out badly with George Russell in Qatar, in which he alleges the Mercedes driver exaggerated an incident in qualifying that cost him pole position.

Their argument escalated further in Abu Dhabi - the 2024 season finale.

When asked by Servus TV if he is still at odds with Russell, Red Bull’s Verstappen answered: "We talked a little bit after the race in Abu Dhabi. But everything is fine.

"We’ll go again next year and it will be ok. You know, Christmas helps everyone, I think."

Another strained relationship for Verstappen this year was with title rival Lando Norris. The pair have been friends for years, but there were signs of tension both on and off the track, with comments exchanged via the media.

Verstappen, though, said a bit of tension is "just part of it".

"This is not kindergarten, this is a world championship," said the Dutchman. "The media said we had problems because of the championship fight, but that was never the case."

Verstappen was also asked whether his friendship with Norris had changed at all during the course of the season in a separate end-of-year interview with Viaplay.

"Not that I’m aware of, to be honest," answered the 27-year-old, who said he and Norris are still "totally fine" with one another.

"We still text, we see each other. I talked to him on the phone yesterday about a helmet swap, these kinds of things."

Verstappen defended his no-holds-barred approach to racing, indicating that the attitude separates him from certain rivals. "I will always make the most of it," he said.

"Sometimes you have to cross a line, and I will," Verstappen added, referring specifically to his highly controversial move on Norris in Mexico.

"I don’t regret it. Not at all," he said. "I think I gained points there.

"I will do everything I can to get the most out of a championship. And of course sometimes you have to go to the limit or over the limit. You have to calculate all of that, and not everyone understands that. Not everyone has that mentality."

Verstappen is currently sitting on eight super license penalty points, and when he gets to 12, he will have to serve a one-race ban. "I just want to drive the way I always drive - I don’t care about all of those things."

He is critical, for example, of the ’Payaya rules’ approach to team orders that was taken by McLaren, in the way that Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri had to cooperate towards the end of the season.

"That is a nonsense quote," Verstappen said. "If I heard ’Papaya rules’ from my engineer, I would straight away tell him to keep his mouth shut.

"’Allowed to race’ is fine, but they should have solved this much easier and better, as a team. They had a very good car, but it also became clear that they still have a lot to learn as a team.

"They did well for the constructors’ championship, but they could have prepared much better for the drivers’ championship."

When asked if McLaren had missed opportunities in 2024, Verstappen answered: "Absolutely, 100 percent." And when also asked if Norris had the personal potential to be world champion, he added: "Yes, that too."

Verstappen said he is not expecting to enter the 2025 season as favourite.

"But that’s ok," he insisted during the ’Sport und Talk aus dem Hangar-7’ program on Servus TV. "We still have to change a lot of things to be number one again.

"But that’s ok and maybe sometimes it’s good not to be the favourite at the start of the season."