Verstappen has been the most outspoken of all the drivers about the new rules that have been introduced into F1 this year, which have given Mercedes the chance to leap back to the front.
“Mario Kart”, “Formula E on steroids” and “anti-racing” are just three of the catchy phrases Verstappen has used to describe driving these new cars, which have engines with a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power.
They require energy management around the lap, have been criticised for preventing drivers going flat-out in qualifying. And while there has been a lot more overtaking, even this has not always been seen as a positive, as some of it comes about only because of hugely varying battery charge levels inherent in the rules.
Verstappen is far from the only driver to criticise the new rules. Russell, though, feels differently.
“I definitely don’t share that at all,” he says. “I’m personally really enjoying the car. The power-unit and the engine is definitely different. And it just needs some fine-tuning to really optimise it. But it’s given an opportunity to battle harder, and back-and-forth racing.
“We’re here at a kart track now. And Lewis made a great point – in a kart race, you overtake one corner, he overtakes back. And they overtake back again. And no one’s ever called that Mario Kart or yo-yo racing or whatever the terminology is. We actually call it pure racing and great racing.”
Russell, as director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, led the drivers’ representation to the rule-makers that the cars needed to be changed so qualifying became more flat-out again – hence some of the rule changes this week.
But he believes even that has been exaggerated.
“Anybody who thinks drivers are going slow in corners to be faster on the straights are wrong,” he says.
“There are some small quirks, which the FIA have done their best to eradicate those quirks. These are details that are sort of so complicated, and honestly, fans don’t really need to understand.
“From this race forward, with these minor changes the sport are making, it will make our life easier. We’ll be flat out in the straights on a qualifying lap, and we won’t have to lift off to manage any of the energy.”
He also points out that what has been going on inside the cars this year should be seen in the context of F1’s history.
“I remember watching F1 20 years ago and hearing the roar of the engines and it was amazing, but not seeing a single overtake,” he says.
“That arguably was the purest Formula 1 we’ve ever seen. But the racing was dull.
“So I think we only remember the positives of certain things. And in the present, we like to focus on the negative. And there’s a lot of positives about this new regulation and the new cars.
“I spoke with a Formula 1 driver from the ’80s and the ’90s, multiple race winner, and he said they would have a boost button that would give them 300bhp more, but then at the end of the straight, at the lift off, they’d run out of fuel.
“So this has always kind of been there to some degree. It’s obviously different now, but we always like to highlight the negatives and remember the good stuff from the past.”