Eddie Jordan believes efforts must be made to reconcile George Russell and Max Verstappen. The former F1 team principal regrets that there was a refusal to lighten the mood by the British driver, although the reigning champion said he was confident that they would be able to calm down in the winter .
“The pilots had dinner and decided to play a little game with George because they knew he would be late” Jordan said on his Formula for Success podcast. “They took their seats, including an empty one next to Max, and when George arrived, he realized he had been tricked.”
“But not wanting to joke around, he decided it was embarrassing. It was a great opportunity to sit down with Max and say 'this has gone too far', but he took the chair, walked around the table and sat next to Lewis.”
“I think it's a missed opportunity. I'd reach out to George and Max and say, 'Damn, we don't need this, go shake hands, have a pint together, laugh- and move on.”
Jordan doesn't understand why a driver wants to speak instead of the team representative: “Here's my point of view: When I go into a commissioner's room, and I lie like hell in the hope that they will believe me or that I have reasonably strong evidence, which is rarely the case, and I'm bluffing every way I can think of.”
“I would expect a pilot to shut up. It's none of his business. He's the pilot and it's like he doesn't matter, but he has to be there because he is a witness. I don't know why George felt the need to change that, because that's the role of the team manager, but it's obvious he felt the need to speak up.”
“I'm not taking sides because I'm sure Max said he would put George in the wall, but when I think about when I was in Formula 3, how many people told us that? I I've told hundreds of people, so it's common language among racing drivers because they need to know you're not joking.”
