Body language expert reveals what Max Verstappen REALLY thought of awkward George Russell joke at F1 75 event

A body language expert has revealed what Max Verstappen thought of a joke aimed at his feud with George Russell during the F175 event.

All 10 teams launched their official car liveries for 2025 at the event, which was held at the O2 Arena in London on Tuesday evening.

The 20 drivers that will compete in the season were also present, with the event hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall.

There were, naturally, a number of jokes aimed at the expense of certain drivers - and they appeared to go down well with those in attendance.

While introducing the team staff and drivers who were present, Whitehall looked across to the Red Bull table, which seated Verstappen, his new team-mate Liam Lawson and team principal Christian Horner among others.

The comedian said: "Cheer up Max, it could be worse. We could have sat you next to George Russell." Verstappen reacted to the jibe with a smile.

Whitehall's joke appeared to reference an incident that occurred after Verstappen and Russell's back-and-forth feud that began at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Both drivers had differing views on a grid penalty which Verstappen received after it was deemed he had impeded Russell during qualifying at the Losail Circuit, and the pair aimed a series of digs and allegations towards each other in the press.

The feud didn't result in any official sanctions towards either driver but it quickly became clear that the situation was not going to resolved easily.

Journalist Adam Collins reported that, at the drivers' end-of-season dinner in Abu Dhabi, the other drivers had reserved a seat for Russell - who was one of the last to arrive - next to Verstappen.

However, upon his arrival, the Mercedes driver moved his chair to the opposite side of the room and sat between Carlos Sainz and his then team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Now, speaking to OLBG, body language expert Darren Stanton has given his analysis on how Verstappen really felt about Whitehall's joke at F175.

He said: "When attention was drawn to Max Verstappen, he hated it.

"Max gave the biggest fake smile I've seen in quite a while. There are no crow's feet. No laughter lines. The bottom half of his face is the only part that is engaged.

"He hated the attention of the whole room looking at him. When Jack Whitehall told him to cheer up, Max's face said it all.

"With George Russell, he is more of an extrovert than Max, so he was actually enjoying the adulation.

"He was loving the fact that Whitehall was bigging him up, which Max again appeared to hate."

It is worth noting that Verstappen isn't exactly known for his love of such major events outside of F1 - underlined by his reaction to the opening ceremony that was held prior to the first Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023.

He told reporters: "For me, you can all skip these kinds of things. It's just standing up there - [you] look like a clown.

"I don't like all the things around it. I'm looking forward to trying to do the best I can [while racing], but I'm not looking forward to this."