LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen said Sunday he “lost all respect” for Mercedes driver George Russell after an incident between them in qualifying cost him pole position on the grid for the Qatar Grand Prix.
Verstappen was .055 of a second faster than Russell in Saturday's qualifying but a stewards’ inquiry gave him a one-place penalty for driving “unnecessarily slowly” in an incident with Russell, who moved up to first on the grid.
Russell complained over the radio that it was “super dangerous” that he’d had to avoid Verstappen ahead of him. Both were summoned to a stewards' inquiry and Verstappen was sharply critical Sunday of Russell's approach to the incident.
“Honestly, very disappointing because I think we’re all here, we respect each other a lot and, of course, I’ve been in that (race stewards') meeting room many times in my life, in my career, with people that have raced and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard,” Verstappen said after Sunday's race. “For me, I lost all respect.”
Verstappen suggested he'd been going slowly so as not to impede other drivers.
“I think that’s the first time that in a slow lap someone has been penalized. While, actually, I just tried to be nice. So maybe I shouldn’t be nice,” he said.
The penalty had almost no impact on Sunday's race as Verstappen overtook Russell into the first corner and went on to take his ninth win of a title-winning season.
“It was a pretty simple overtake for him, which was a bit frustrating for us,” Russell said. “We know Max is a fighter and is aggressive. I expect no different, and I really wanted to go out there and fight with him today.”
Russell finished the race fourth, with a five-second penalty for dropping too far behind the car in front during a safety car period.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands stands on the podium after winning the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands leads at the start during the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
TORONTO (AP) — Canada's ambassador to the United States said Sunday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was successful in getting President-elect Donald Trump and key Cabinet nominees to understand that lumping Canada in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the U.S. is unfair.
Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador in Washington, told The Associated Press in an interview that Trudeau's dinner with Trump on Friday was a very important step in trying to get Trump to back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner.
Hillman was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and sat at an adjacent table to Trudeau and Trump.
Trump threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders. He said in a social media post last Monday he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders.
Hillman said Trudeau asked to see Trump in person in a phone call Monday and Trump invited him to dinner on Friday.
At the dinner, Hillman said the case was made to Trump that there is no comparison between the Canada-U.S. border and Mexico-U.S. border.
“The message that our border is so vastly different than the Mexican border was really understood,” Hillman said.
Hillman said the bulk of Friday night's dinner centered around Trump's border concerns. The ambassador said a priority of Trudeau's was to point out the degree of difference.
Hillman said there really is no comparison, noting there is essentially zero trafficking of fentanyl from Canada to the United States. She said there are seizures but authorities say those are personal use seizures and not criminal trafficking. She said that 99.8% of the fentanyl seized by U.S. authorities in the U.S. comes from Mexico.
“Also with respect to individuals, illegal individuals crossing illegally, Canada last year was less than one percent, 0.6 percent were of total interceptions from Canada,” Hillman said.
U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Hillman said the migrant numbers are coming down since the summer.
“The facts are hard to deny,” Hillman said.
But Hillman said Canada is ready to make new investments in border security and there are plans for more helicopters, drones and law enforcement officers.
She also noted an agreement between Canada and the United States that allows for migrants caught crossing illegally into the United States to be sent back to Canada. She said that was talked about. She said Mexico and the U.S. do not have a similar agreement.
At the dinner that lasted three hours, Hillman said America's trade deficit with Canada was also raised. Hillman said the U.S. had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year but noted a third of what Canada sells into the U.S. are energy exports and prices have been high.
“Trade balances are something that he focuses so it’s important to engage in that conversation but to put it into context," Hillman said.
“We are one tenth the size of the United States so a balanced trade deal would mean per capita we are buying 10 times more from the U.S. than they are buying from us. If that’s his metric we will certainly engage on that."
Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice to be his national security adviser, and the three men’s wives.
Also at the dinner were David McCormick, just elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, and his wife, Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser under Trump, as well as Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, and Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of staff.
Hillman said Canadian and incoming Trump administration officials will work on Trump's concerns in the coming weeks. Trump called the talks “productive” on Sunday in a social media post but signaled no retreat from his tariff pledge.
Hillman said Trump and Trudeau "get along well" and the dinner was also a chance to socialize. She said Trump used his iPad to play music and she said Trump told Trudeau he's a big fan of Canadian singer Celine Dion.
“I don’t think it could have been better to be frank. Okay, I’ll take that back, I’ll change that. If he obviously said there would be no tariffs that would have been better but there was no realistic expectation of that,” Hillman said.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 77% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks through the lobby of the Delta Hotel by Marriott, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly speaks to media as he walks through the lobby of the Delta Hotel by Marriott, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks through the lobby of the Delta Hotel by Marriott, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
FILE - President Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon his arrival at the White House, June 20, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at an event where it was announced that Prince Edward Island has signed on to the Federal School food program, in Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island, Canada, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Ron Ward/The Canadian Press via AP)
