Canadian GP 2025: George Russell is Better at Battling Max Verstappen Than Lando Norris, Believes Former F1 World Champion

The Canadian GP 2025 Formula 1 race will see Mercedes driver George Russell start on pole whereas Red Bull driver and defending F1 world champion Max Verstappen will be in P2. McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who leads the championship this season, is in P3 whereas Lando Norris is in P7. However, the one thing that caught the eyes of many is how antagonistic Russell appeared at times towards Verstappen, which comes after an incident at the Spanisn GP between the two. 

Verstappen had barged into Russell after he was told by his team to give back a position and thus earned himself a 10 second penalty. 

But while Russell has publicly drawn a line under the incident, the way he has engaged Verstappen since has impressed former Mercedes driver and 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg. 

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Rosberg Praises Russell's Tactics

Rosberg compared the way Russell has gone up against Verstappen and said it was better than how Norris has looked to battle the Dutchman - both on and off the track. 

"George has done a great job, and he’s really standing up against Max Verstappen. He will stick it in there at Turn 1, even if Max is there. Norris is often more on the losing end to these wheel-to-wheel battles with Verstappen; he’s not been as strong and as forceful as George. Also in the media, different dynamics and I quite like how he does it," Rosberg said on Sky Sports. 

Russell has notably been more aggressive both in wheel-to-wheel combat as well as in the media, and this isn't the first time he's done it - his no-nonsense take after last year's Abu Dhabi GP went viral. 

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Will Verstappen Get a Race Ban? 

The other big talking point around Verstappen is the fact that he is in danger of getting a race ban, as he only needs one more point on his superlicense for that to be triggered. 

Verstappen himself cut an irritated figure while responding to questions about it afterwards and is trying to draw a line under the issue. 

But he will have to be careful in this race and the next one in Austria as it is only from the next race that points will drop off and the threat of a ban will abate.