George Russell says Max Verstappen is ‘whingeing’ because he ‘wants more money’ ahead of bigger 2024 F1 calendar

George Russell has responded to Max Verstappen’s claims about the F1 calendar, claiming the reigning world champion is eyeing a pay rise.

The Red Bull drivers’ championship leader has said that a record-long season for 2024 is deterring him from continuing to race beyond his current deal, which expires in 2028.

Verstappen currently earns £40 million a year to make him F1’s highest-paid driver, before Lewis Hamilton signs the £250 million contract he wants with Mercedes.

“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.

“I hope he doesn’t, 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 [Ferrari’s] Charles [Leclerc], and I think we’re in a really great place at the moment as a sport.”

Russell stressed the increasing number of races is a concern, and insists something has to give ahead of an even more hectic calendar.

“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,” he explained.

“Maybe at the moment we’re just adding more races and not having less commitments, so you are just working overtime.”

Among the changes in 2024 will see the Azerbaijan Grand Prix move to September, while Japan is set to take place in April. The season is scheduled to start in Bahrain on March and conclude in Abu Dhabi on December 8.

In total, a record 24 races are scheduled, with the Chinese GP returning for the first time since 2019.

Meanwhile, February 21-23 has been identified as the three days for pre-season testing to take place.