Liam Lawson revealed the awkward moment George Russell opted not to sit next to Max Verstappen at the season-ending F1 drivers’ dinner in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen and Russell had earlier, on media day at the Yas Marina Circuit, attacked each other with words in the media amid a fractious end to the 2024 season between Red Bull and Mercedes.
Yet later that evening, the 20-driver grid assembled for the traditional end-of-season dinner and Lawson – who has just signed for Red Bull for 2025 – divulged the awkward exchange between the pair as the seating plan took shape.
“It’s crazy how many messages I’ve had about this [drivers dinner], people are really curious,” Lawson told the Pit Stop podcast.
“This is f****** funny. It’s really funny. We rock up, at this big table. As the table was filling up, that side of the table was pretty much full.
“And opposite me was Max and then three chairs to the left [of him]. George hadn’t turned up at this point.
“We all said ‘we’re going to save the spot for George right next to Max.’ George arrives and Max said ‘mate, we’ve saved a seat for you.’
“And George just picks up the chair and walks to the other end of the table and sits with Lewis at that end of the table.”
“We thought it would be funny. It wasn’t funny… it was funny for us!”
The row between Russell and Verstappen started at the penultimate race of the season in Qatar after a row in the stewards’ room.
It then carried over to Abu Dhabi, when Russell revealed that Verstappen had threatened to put “his head in the f****** wall” while the Dutchman insisted the Brit had “lied” and labelled him a “loser.”
Verstappen, who claimed his fourth successive world championship in 2024, finished 192 points ahead of Russell in sixth in the final standings.
