George Russell has revealed Max Verstappen threatened to “put my f***ing head in the wall” as their war of words escalated ahead of the final race of the Formula One season.
The Mercedes driver accused the Red Bull star of deliberately pushing to crash into him during the Qatar Grand Prix.
The Dutch driver missed out on pole position a week ago after being sent to the stewards for blocking Russell during qualifying, with both men sent to discuss the moment.
Verstappen ended up with a one-place grid penalty to drop down one spot and hand Russell pole position, though the four-time world champion would still win the race.
But the tension has only escalated in Abu Dhabi ahead of the conclusion to the 2024 season, with Verstappen accusing Russell of lying to the stewards.
He also stated that he had “lost all respect” for the Mercedes driver and that he behaved differently in front of the cameras to behind the scenes, telling Dutch television: “You know what it is? He acts decent in front of the camera here, but when you talk to him personally, he is a different person … I can’t stand that. In that case you can better f*** off.”
But Russell hit back on Thursday, stating: “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***ing head in the wall’.
“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.
“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 ‘21, Brazil ‘21 — he lashes out. Budapest this year, the very first race the car wasn’t dominant, crashing into Lewis, slamming his team … As I said, 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.”
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