George Russell and Max Verstappen have had a major falling out before the start of the season finale in Abu Dhabi. The reason is the spilled-over controversy from the Qatar GP where Verstappen took a one-place penalty on the starting grid. The Dutchman, who held Russell responsible for the penalty, made some scathing remarks on his character.
Russell waited for a week to respond to those remarks and hasn’t held back. The Mercedes driver alleged that Verstappen threatened to put him through a wall during their altercation. That made him fear that they’d crash on the race start in Qatar. As he revealed it to the media, freelance journalist Adam Cooper made an interesting observation.
“On Sunday night in Qatar, Russell admitted that he’d feared a Turn 1 crash with Verstappen, but when I asked if he had those concerns because of comments Verstappen had made after the hearing – and that I’d heard about – he didn’t bite,” Cooper wrote.
“In other words, Russell had a chance then to reveal just what Verstappen had said to him, and in effect, drop him in it, but he chose not to. He’s only done so today because of Max’s ongoing criticism,” he added.
2. In other words RUS had a chance then to reveal just what Verstappen had said to him, and in effect drop him in it, but he chose not to. He’s only done so today because of Max’s ongoing criticism.
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) December 5, 2024
Verstappen responded to Russell’s allegations by outrightly denying them. He called out Russell for “exaggerating” what he’d said and that was something he couldn’t stand. The Red Bull ace also attacked the Mercedes driver for presenting a different personality in the stewards’ room and later approaching him in a friendly manner outside.
In Qatar, Verstappen called Russell “two-faced” for this sort of behavior. This may have been the trigger that led to Russell’s strong response. After the interaction in the media pen in Abu Dhabi, he also held a press conference with Toto Wolff accompanying him.
Verstappen responds to Russell’s “bully” charge
Russell held a strong response to Verstappen, which he felt was overdue. That was because of his habit of ‘bullying’ his fellow drivers which got a befitting rebuttal from Lewis Hamilton in 2021 and “lost unfairly”.
Verstappen responded by calling Russell a bully and a loser. “George is a bully. That he brings up all these kinds of things. He is just a loser. He lies and sticks all kinds of things together that are not correct. I only gave my opinion about his behavior to the stewards,” he said.
Race director Michael Masi lost his job after his erroneous call at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. Russell believes had the Dutchman been on the receiving end of that call, “Masi would be fearing for his life”. The reigning champion called this an insinuation on Russell’s part that did not make sense.
