Damon Hill reacts to George Russell's cheeky dig at Max Verstappen after F1 Canadian GP qualifying

George Russell seemed to take a dig at Max Verstappen after winning pole position in the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver stated that he has the free will to make moves against the Red Bull driver on Sunday (June 15), as he has fewer penalty points compared to the latter, and Damon Hill reacted to his dig on social media.

Russell pushed a stunning flying lap in Q3 of the Canadian GP qualifying session to dethrone provisional pole position holder Verstappen to win P1 start for the race in Montreal. The Brit was a tenth of a second quicker than the four-time world champion and secured a front-row start.

Moreover, in the post-qualifying interview, Russell seemed to take a light-hearted dig at Verstappen. Both will be on the front row (P1 and P2, respectively) at the race start on June 15, and given the history between the two, Russell was asked if he would fight aggressively against Max Verstappen.

To this George Russell replied (via Sky Sports):

"We are mates; it's all good! I've got a few more points on my license to play with. Let's see."

Meanwhile, Damon Hill loved the banter from Russell and posted his reaction on his X handle.

"Lovely cheeky comments from @GeorgeRussell63 on driver penalty points. Didn't mention any names, but of course he meant @Max33Verstappen, and these two have history. Going to be an interesting corner 1! #f1

During the 2025 Spanish GP held on June 1 at Barcelona, Verstappen caused a collision with Russell in the final couple of laps to receive a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points.

The Red Bull driver has 11 points on his super license, which won't be reduced until after the Austrian Grand Prix. Hence, Verstappen has less room for error, as another penalty point could get him a race ban, thus hurting his championship quest.

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Max Verstappen admitted fault in collision with George Russell in Spain

Max Verstappen with George Russell at the F1 Grand Prix of Canada - Qualifying - Source: Getty

During the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen seemingly made an error in judgement, which cost him big time. In the final few laps, he overtook George Russell by venturing off the track, and fearing a penalty, Red Bull asked him to give the position back.

While Verstappen did slow down on the next lap, instead of letting Russell by, he crashed into him, leading to contact, and it took FIA minutes to hand him a slam dunk 10-second time penalty and three additional penalty points.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Canadian GP, Verstappen admitted his mistake and said (via Motorsport):

"It was not the right thing to do at the time. It was a misjudgment, clearly, in the corner, but you don't need to go into full detail of why, how, and what. Everyone makes mistakes in life. Everyone learns from them, and we just move on."

Verstappen added that the collision was a lead-up to many frustrating moments he faced at the safety car restart. Red Bull put him on hard tires, and he also had minor contact with Charles Leclerc. Moreover, when Red Bull asked Verstappen to give the position back to George Russell, he lost his cool and made a massive misjudgment.