Russell: Bully Verstappen wanted to put me on my f****** head in the wall
Formula 1 driver George Russell has unleashed a brutal attack on world champion Max Verstappen after the Dutchman moaned about the Brit.
Verstappen said he lost all respect for George Russell after an incident in Qatar but the Mercedes driver hit back, saying the Dutchman had “bullied” people for years and promised to purposely crash into the Brit.
“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’,” Russell told media, according to Racer publication.
“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.”
Added Russell: “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 – Jeddah [20]21, Brazil [20]21 – he lashes out. Budapest this year, the very first race the car wasn’t dominant, [he was] crashing into Lewis [Hamilton, teammate], slamming his team…
“For me, 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.”
The war of words between Verstappen and Russell comes ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which concludes the 2024 season on Sunday.
Verstappen picked up his forth consecutive world title in recent weeks but struggled throughout a season in which he has often been critical of those around him.