Max Verstappen avoided the awkward moment of having to pay for George Russell's meal hours after the pair's Formula 1 feud turned ugly.
Verstappen and Russell fired shots at one another during Thursday's media day ahead of this weekend's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
In a remarkable press conference in which he was joined by boss Toto Wolff, Russell accused Verstappen of being a 'bully', claiming that the four-time world champion threatened to 'put him on his f****** head in the wall' last weekend.
Denying said threat, Verstappen hit back by labelling Russell a 'loser' and a 'backstabber'.
The two rivals later met face-to-face at the annual end-of-season drivers' dinner, organised by Lewis Hamilton.
It's tradition for the reigning world champion to pick up the bill but 35-year-old Valtteri Bottas, ahead of potentially his last ever F1 race, generously got out his wallet and paid.
Sitting at the other end of the table, as confirmed by Lando Norris on Instagram, Verstappen therefore didn't have to treat Russell, who says that it's time for someone to stand up to the Red Bull driver.
Their feud was sparked by an incident ahead of last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, after which Verstappen said that he'd 'lost all respect' for Russell.
Having been adjudged to have impeded Russell when were pair were both of cooldown laps during the third qualifying session, Verstappen was given a one-place grid penalty and stripped of pole position.
Russell was subsequently handed pole position after recording the next-fastest lap but the Brit couldn't convert it into a podium finish during Sunday's race.
Verstappen, meanwhile, romped to victory and said of his post-qualifying meeting with Russell and the stewards:
"I've been in that meeting room many times in my life and my career with people that I've raced and I've never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. For me, I lost all respect."
Speaking on Thursday, a furious Russell claimed that ahead of the Qatar race, Verstappen threatened to purposefully crash into him.
"I find it all quite ironic seeing as Saturday night he said he was going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and, 'put me on my f****** head in the wall'," the 26-year-old told ESPN.
"So to question somebody's integrity as a person, while saying comments like that the day before, I find is very ironic, and I'm not going to sit here and accept it.
People have been bullied by Max for years now, and you can’t question his driving abilities. But he cannot deal with adversity. Whenever anything has gone against him, he lashes out.
"Budapest this year, the very first race the car wasn't dominant, crashing into Lewis, slamming his team... As I said those comments on Saturday night and Sunday were totally disrespectful and unnecessary.
Because what happens on track, we fight hard, that's part of racing. What happens in the stewards' room, you fight hard, but it’s never personal. But he's taken it too far now."
