George Russell Accuses $60,000,000 Earning Max Verstappen of Forcing Red Bull Into Paying More With Retirement Threats

Max Verstappen is earning approximately $60,000,000 every year on his current contract with Red Bull. However, he usually ponders whether it’s a good life or not. But ask George Russell; it’s just an old-age facade by the Dutchman to extract more riches from his team.

Despite being at the top of his game, the two-time world champion often gives retirement scares to his fans. The 25-year-old often hints that he might retire soon enough as he wants to try other things in life.

The highest-paid athletes under the age of 26 (according to Forbes)

1. Kylian Mbappé – $120M
2. Kyler Murray – $70.5M
3. Max Verstappen – $64M 🤯💸
4. Erling Haaland – $52M
5. Luka Dončic – $47.2M

And it is rumoured that Max’s salary will increase by $5m each year until 2028 😳

— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) May 18, 2023

His reasons could be valid as he has been in F1 for over seven years and is still only 25, as an F1 season is as hectic as possible. But for the Mercedes star, Verstappen is not being honest.

George Russell thinks Max Verstappen is blackmailing Red Bull

On Thursday, Russell, like most of the drivers, interacted with the media. And he believes that it’s a tactic by Verstappen to boost his fortunes further, even though even the Mercedes star believes that lengthening F1 schedule is a problem.

“He is whingeing because he wants more money. He is the highest paid on this grid and rightly so for what he is achieving but I think it is all a big tactic of his, this threat of retirement,” said Russell, as per Philip Duncan.

Well, it’s a huge allegation by the Briton, but it’s not the first time when he has said anything negative against the current world champion. In Baku, Russell even questioned Verstappen’s upbringing.

The famous Azerbaijan conflict

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix held the first sprint race of the season, and in the very first lap of it, Russell and Verstappen collided. Both drivers exchanged some unpleasant words right after the race ended.

Later in front of the media, while talking about Verstappen calling him a d**head, Russell questioned his rival’s upbringing. After that, both drivers surely don’t share cordial relations and are hardly seen interacting.

Now, with the fresh comments by Russell, it remains to be seen how Verstappen will respond. But at the same time, Russell also hopes Verstappen stays in F1 for years as he wants to compete against the best drivers.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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