On Thursday in his Abu Dhabi GP written media session, George Russell hit back firmly regarding the comments of Max Verstappen in the post-race press conference and to TV broadcasters in Qatar.
Russell gives his side of the story
Verstappen said he lost all respect for Russell because of his behaviour away from the cameras in the stewards room as the Dutchman was hit with his one-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly in Q3 when the Mercedes driver was behind him, with both on prep laps.
Giving his version of events, the 3-time race winner explained that Verstappen allegedly swore at the stewards as they ultimately swapped spots at the front of the grid.
“Well it’s just, it’s funny because even before I said a word in the stewards, he was swearing at the stewards, he was so angry, before I’d even spoken.
“And at the end of the day, there’s nothing to lie about, the facts were the facts.
“He was going too slow, he was on the racing line in the highest speed corner, I wasn’t trying to get him a penalty at all when I was on track.
“I was in pole position at this time, I was just trying to prepare my lap.
Verstappen on the radio enquiring about Norris
During the race, Lando Norris did not lift for yellow flags, earning himself a 10-second stop-go penalty.
He was fighting Verstappen for the win at the time, with the Dutchman immediately on the radio to ask his team to check his speed through the yellows.
Russell says it shows all drivers look for an advantage where they can.
“And as drivers, you fight hard on track, you fight hard in the stewards, the same way as Max, the very next day, asked his team to look at Lando’s penalty through the yellow flag.
“That’s not personal, Max to Lando, that’s just racing.
“And I do not see why he felt the need for this personal attack, and I’m not going to take it.”
Russell makes serious allegations against Verstappen
Continuing on, the 26-year-old says Verstappen threatened to crash into him put him in the wall after everything that went on with the stewards post-qualifying.
The Mercedes driver was adamant this is not how drivers should behave.
“I’ve known Max for a long time and I know what he’s capable of.
“He said to me he’s going to purposely go out of his way to crash into me, putting my f***ing head in the wall.
“I knew that was a bit of a heat of the moment thing, but when I went to see him the next day at the Drivers’ Parade, when Checo was there, when Carlos was there, and we were joking around a little bit, I saw it in his eyes that he means it.
“He’s a four-time world champion. When I compare his actions to the ones of Lewis, Lewis is the sort of world champion who I aspire to be like. The way he fought Max in 21 is hard, very hard, it’s fair, but never beyond the line.
“I think we’ve also got a duty as drivers. I’ve got an eight-year-old nephew who’s just started go-karting, who watches all of my races, watches TikTok, watches YouTube.
“For a World Champion to come out saying he’s going to go out of his way to crash into someone and put them on their f’n head, that is not the sort of role models we should be.”
Russell: Verstappen unable to deal with the tough times
Verstappen won four of the first five races of the season, leading to a dominant start once again.
However, the season got tougher after that, with McLaren in particular coming in strong with a very fast package. Mercedes and Ferrari have had their moments at the front, too.
Nonetheless, the Red Bull driver has taken a further five wins, taking out his fourth World Championship in Las Vegas.
Russell says how Verstappen acted in Qatar shows he cannot handle things well if his car is not the fastest.
“I don’t really know what there is to escalate.
“As I said, I walked into that steward with no problem with Max. I walked out of that steward with no problem with Max. His shits hit the fan and the words he said to me.
“But again, I went back and I told my team and we laughed about it. And then I woke up the next day and I was expecting to have a laugh about it.
“But as I said, I saw the fire in his eyes. So I don’t know why this topic has got him so angry.
“And like I said to you before, he cannot deal with adversity.”
Red Bull team members sending CVs to Mercedes and others after Hungary
In Hungary, Verstappen fumed on the radio regarding strategy on a number of occasions. It saw him end up behind Hamilton and Leclerc at one stage, before making contact with the Brit at turn 1 in the closing stages as he tried to pass for 3rd.
Russell says a number of Red Bull engineers sent CVs to other teams as they wanted to get away from the team because of the behaviour of Verstappen.
He added that the closeness of the field since Austria shows the Dutch driver is not invincible.
“He’s had the most dominant car in recent history for two and a half years. I’m not questioning his driving abilities one single bit.
“But the second he does not have the fastest car, let’s take Budapest as an example. He crashes into Lewis. He slams his whole team and he loses the plot.
“Straight away after that race, 25% of his engineering team were sending their CVs to Mercedes, to McLaren, to Aston Martin. They said they can’t deal with a guy like that.
“And since Austria, he’s won the same number of races as six other drivers. So when you say, is Max beatable? Of course he’s beatable.
“When he’s in the most dominant car, he is not beatable. The same way as Lewis and I, when we had the most dominant car in Silverstone, in Las Vegas, we were not beatable either.”
Russell believes nobody standing up to him and believes Verstappen would have gone after Masi
Controversial incidents with Norris in Austria and Mexico led to plenty of criticism for Verstappen, and Russell was not afraid to stick the boot in today. Nonetheless, he is sure the FIA are on top of things now.
In fact, he brought up Abu Dhabi 2021 and said Verstappen would have gone after Michael Masi, saying the Australian would have been fearing for his life had the Dutchman been on the end of that instead of his current teammate Lewis Hamilton.
“I think he’s been enabled because nobody’s stood up to him.
“Lewis stood up to him in 2021. And Lewis lost that championship unfairly.
“Could you imagine the roles being reversed and Max losing that championship in the manner that Lewis lost that championship? I mean, Masi would be fearing for his life.
“So, as I said, some of the recent incidents, he has been punished. And he punished himself, Mexico with the reckless overtakes, Budapest with the reckless overtake.
“But it’s just in the past, he has had such a dominant car. He’s not been in this position.
“So, you know, I think the FIA are pretty on it now. And I don’t think much needs to change from their viewpoint because he’s going to punish himself one way or another.”
