Verstappen is currently marching towards a third successive world title, with his 2023 successes so far featuring little in the way of the wheel-to-wheel scrapping that characterised his 2021 success over Lewis Hamilton and his early 2022 fights against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Dutchman did mount a feisty defence against Carlos Sainz at the start of the recent Barcelona race, but that did not generate controversy after Verstappen kept enough of his car on track and Sainz felt “he defended well, ran me wide and did what he had to do”.
Elsewhere in 2023, Verstappen caused surprise when he responded angrily to Russell’s minor contact early in the Baku sprint, calling the Briton "a d***head" during a post-race parc ferme exchange.
All these developments follow Verstappen stating in late 2022 that he and fellow members of F1’s current younger generation “understand each other better” and suggesting that a perceived lack of understanding with Hamilton likely contributes to their repeated on-track clashes since the start of 2021.
Autosport put this to Russell a few days before the Spanish GP, with the question also regarding his relationships with other long-term rivals on the F1 grid, formed over a decade and more of battling in the junior categories and now at the top of global motorsport, as part of the younger generation currently Verstappen heads.
“I think we all know each other pretty well,” Russell replied. “We know each other’s driving styles, we know the risks one another take.
“I first raced against Max and Charles, and Esteban [Ocon] actually, in 2011.
Source: Autosport