Martin Brundle makes FIA request after Max Verstappen and George ...

Martin Brundle said the FIA should step in following Max Verstappen and George Russell’’s public feud.

Russell came out firing on media day in Abu Dhabi as he accused Verstappen of being a bully in an incident that looked to be the first sign of bad blood in the paddock for a number of years.

With Verstappen having been the first to publicly criticise Russell in Qatar, the Mercedes driver responded on Thursday with an astonishing press conference targeting the newly-crowned four-time World Champion.

An end of season dinner between all 20 drivers suggested Russell and Verstappen could at least be in the same room, albeit at different ends of the table, but the animosity is likely to continue for a while yet.

Ahead of the first race since the war of words began, Sky F1 pundit Brundle suggested the FIA should step in to sort it out but that it was too busy cleaning its own house.

“George is the only one brave enough to do that with Max at the moment, everybody else has just wilted,” Brundle, who had his own experiences of determined drivers in the form of Ayrton Senna, said. “The FIA should be getting involved in this and sorting it out, if they weren’t busy trying to sort themselves out.

“But yes, I do believe that they should be more involved in this. But I’ve said for years, haven’t I? I don’t understand how the drivers can be best mates on social media and then race wheel-to-wheel on the track. It can’t work out in the end.”

PlanetF1.com understands the FIA has no intention of stepping in at this time.

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As for who was right and wrong, Brundle suggested that was for everyone else to decide but suggested Verstappen has “ramped up the aggression.”

“Our audience will decide who they take at face value. How I see this is that Max has ramped up the aggression on the track and ramped up playing the victim off the track, and it’s working because he’s got everybody on the run.

“He’s got everybody on edge, whether it’s the media, whether it’s other teams, whether it’s other drivers, and it’s, it’s, it’s how he goes about his race.

“We know he’s always been aggressive on the race track. He knows the rule book. He knows how to control his car, brilliant at controlling his car in wheel to wheel situations, and every time he does it, it plays out for him.”

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