F1 drivers dinner with illness and some absence: “The two you think are sitting as far apart as possible”

This tradition. At the last Grand Prix of the season, F1 drivers usually gather before the start of the on-track action in Abu Dhabi for dinner, ending a long F1 season. And this time, the meeting had a great morbidity: Max Verstappen and George Russell, involved in a vicious exchange of accusations after what happened in Qatar A week ago, they had to share a table.

Lando Norrisone of the funniest drivers on the grid, did not waste the opportunity to highlight it on his social networks and examine the wound of Max and George, posting a picture of dinner with a funny text.

“Dinner 2024! And yes, the two you imagine are sitting as far away from each other as possible”Lando declared, ending his sentence with a few laughing emoticons.

In the photos shared on the networks, it can be seen how the two drivers who fought for the title, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, sat. Max also did it surrounded by drivers expected to join him in 2025 instead of ‘Checo’ Pérez. In front of him are Lawson and Tsunoda (RB) and next to him, the Argentine Franco Colapinto, currently without a seat for 2025, although it seems that he is not allowed to enter Red Bull as indicated by Christian Horner, head of Milton Keynes team.

As Norris said, Russell sat at one end of the table, across from Max. Russell sat next to his current teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who will sign for Ferrari in 2025, and next to Russell was Sainz, the driver Hamilton will replace at the Italian team. On that side of the table were the aforementioned Russell, Sainz and Hamilton, also far behind his rival Max, as well as Gasly, Bottas and a ‘Czech’ sitting next to his friend Carlos.

Alonso, absent

The reason is unknown and whether some pilots had a commercial event on Thursday night, but not all of them were present at the pilots’ dinner. The two Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are missing, as is the Danish Kevin Magnussen.