Max Verstappen and George Russell’s furious dispute has escalated ahead of the Formula One season finale in Abu Dhabi, with the Mercedes driver accusing the world champion of threatening to “put my f***ing head in the wall.” The Dutch driver was outraged during qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix after receiving a one-place penalty for impeding Russell. Verstappen accused Russell of “lying.”
Max Verstappen received a one-place grid penalty for hindering Russell during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix due to his slow lap. After qualifying, he explained how Russell pressured the race stewards to penalise him. Verstappen won Sunday’s race in Lusail after overtaking the Mercedes driver. But the Briton responded by disclosing an angry threat from the four-time world champion in the aftermath of the incident.
The world champion then retaliated by labelling Russell a “loser and a backstabber”. Autosport shared the comment on Instagram, prompting reactions from F1 fans. Former F1 driver Pastor Maldonado shared his thoughts on the remark and the tweet. He responded with an emoji of a rooster in the comments area. Maldonado’s comment elicited strong reactions from F1 fans, despite its unclear context. Ever since the heated situation both drivers have lost respect for each other.
Racing Hard or Reckless?
Verstappen said, “It was honestly very disappointing because I think all of us here, respect each other a lot. I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life and in 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. That’s not true. I didn’t say it like that. He’s exaggerating again.”
Russell had a week before he was allowed to answer, and he exceeded expectations. Russell told the media that Max Verstappen’s account of events was false and that the four-time World Champion was using bullying methods. Max Verstappen has won his fourth consecutive world championship and currently leads the table with 429 points. George Russell is currently in sixth place, with 235 points.
