GEORGE RUSSELL believes that Max Verstappen is “whinging” about Formula 1’s new 24-race calendar… because he wants more money.
The reigning world champion is unhappy with the new, longer schedule – and hinted that it could make him think twice about extending his current deal and staying in the sport.
Verstappen is tied to a £40million a year contract with Red Bull up to 2028, when he will be 31.
Reacting to the extended schedule, the 25-year-old team-mate of Lewis Hamilton said: “I think it is a bit more logical the way that it is planned at least, I guess that is better for everyone.
“But more things will have to come together for me to make my mind up over whether I stay longer or not. But I think that these things are definitely not helping for sure.”
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Russell wasn’t taking Verstappen’s retirement threat all too seriously.
He said: “I think he’s whinging because he wants more money!
“He’s the highest paid on this grid and rightly so for what he’s achieving but even so, I think it’s all a big tactic of his, that threat of retirement.”
Verstappen has won five consecutive races, with Red Bull having so far swept this season’s calendar.
Mercedes ace Russell, however, wants him to stick around.
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He added: “I hope he doesn’t (retire), I hope he stays for as long as I stay because I want to fight against the best drivers in the world.
“I’m head-to-head with Lewis at the moment and I want to be doing that with Max and Charles (Leclerc) etc and I think we’re in a really great place at the moment as a sport.”
On the extended schedule, Russell likened it to “working overtime”.
He said: “It is challenging, we can’t just keep adding more commitments, more races, there’s got to be a point where if you are adding something somewhere, something has got to be taken off.
“Maybe at the moment we’re just adding more races and not having less commitments, so you are just working overtime.”
This season’s F1 calendar consists of 23 races, compared to 19 as recently as 2015 – while the Covid-modified 2020 campaign had 17.
Next season’s schedule will see the Chinese GP finally make its return – with F1 stars having last raced in Shanghai back in 2019.
