George Russell isn’t afraid to speak his mind with the British Formula 1 star being caught on camera making a spicy remark to Novak Djokovic.
The Mercedes star used the month-long break following the Australian Grand Prix to take in the action at the Monte Carlo Masters tournament.
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Russell sat in the crowd as the world number one took care of business against qualifier Ivan Gakhov in straight sets.
The 7-6, 6-2 victory moves Djokovic into the third round of the tournament where he’ll take on Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
But it was a conversation between the duo following the win that really set tongues wagging as Russell took aim at the FIA.
After a brief bit of back and forth regarding the match, the 35-year-old Serbian turns the conversation towards Formula 1, asking: “What’s the stage now? Where are you guys going for the next one?”
Russell responds: “We’ve got Azerbaijan next. We’ve just come back from Melbourne.”
It’s then the conversation takes a turn as Djokovic asks about the recovery time frame for the drivers following the trip Down Under.
With a sly grin on his face, Russell delivers a parting shot at the Formula 1 calendar and how brutal the toll from the Australian Grand Prix can be.
“Melbourne’s a killer I mean it’s probably taken a week to come back. We were meant to go to China next week so we’ve actually got a couple of weeks off. Then Azerbaijan and then the season really kicks off. Then Miami.”
Djokovic doesn’t hesitate as he blasts F1 bosses for forcing drivers and teams to crisscross across the globe throughout the season, instead of having it arranged in continent order.
Russell responds by stating those conversations have been had with F1 bosses by multiple stars, but still the issue persists.
“No, no, no, we’ve had a few conversations about this because we are left, right and centre,” Russell says.
F1 bosses have previously confirmed they would attempt to adopt a new approach to limit the amount of travel required by the teams as they looked to group races in similar locations.
A goal of being net zero carbon by 2030 is a leading factor in the decision making with Formula One Group CEO Stefano Domenicali saying they want the sport to be more sustainable.
“We are committed to making Formula One more sustainable and increasing diversity and opportunity across this incredible sport. We remain focused on these very important objectives and have continued to make strong progress in 2022,” he said in December last year.
The season which kicked off in early March and won’t finishing until late November has increased to 24 races, but it’s the back and forth travel that remains a major sticking point.
After racing in Azerbaijan, the grid will head to Miami the following week before heading to Europe for three races.
It’ll then head to Canada before returning to Europe for the next six races, then it’s a two-race trip to Asia before a trip to Qatar followed by a four-race stint in America.
The season then wraps up with the final race taking place in Abu Dhabi.
