George Russell has labelled Max Verstappen a “bully” and says someone needs to stand up to the four-time world champion.
The pair were involved in a spat at last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, with Verstappen accusing the British man of being two-faced after the stewards adjudged the Red Bull driver had impeded Russell in qualifying.
The PA news agency understands Russell offered a fist bump to Verstappen in the holding pen ahead of the drivers’ parade which takes place 90 minutes before the race.
However, the Dutchman deliberately ignored Russell’s gesture before staring the Mercedes man down in full view of the other drivers.
After the race, Verstappen said he had lost “all respect” for Russell, claiming he “tried to force a penalty on me”.
Ahead of this weekend’s final round of the 2024 season in Abu Dhabi, Russell has hit back at Verstappen as their row escalated.
“Now he has made it personal and people need to stand up to a bully like this,” Russell told Sky Sports.
“I find his comments pretty ironic, when he comes out and says I am going to purposefully crash into you, I’m going to put you on your f*****g head in the wall, for me that is unacceptable.
“He has gone beyond the line here and I’m not going to accept it.
“All of this is racing but he has felt the need to take it personal. He cannot deal with adversity.
“Whenever anything is not going his way he lashes out with unnecessary anger and borderline violence.
“I wish he would be a better role model.”
Verstappen has denied the threat to put Russell in the wall in comments to Dutch media.
Speaking in the drivers’ pre-race press conference before Russell’s comments, Verstappen reiterated his stance.
“No regrets at all, because I meant everything I said. And it’s still the same,” he said.
“If I had to do it again, maybe I would have said even more, knowing the outcome of the race result.
“I still can’t believe that someone can be like that in a stewards’ room. For me, that was so unacceptable, because I mean, we’re all racing drivers.
“We all have a lot of respect for each other. We even play sports together. You travel together. And of course, you have moments where you get together, you crash or whatever. You’re not happy.
“In my whole career, I’ve never experienced what I have experienced in the stewards’ room in Qatar. And for me, that was really unacceptable.”