George Russell went all with a brutal comeback in response to Max Verstappen's criticism following the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.
Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen launched an attack on George Russell after he received a one-place grid penalty following the qualifying session for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.
Russell accused Verstappen of driving deliberately, slowly, and dangerously on his warm-up lap and ultimately managed to get a penalty for the Dutchman.
It was the first time in the history of Formula 1 that someone received a penalty for driving slowly on their warm-up lap, and Verstappen also argued that he was just trying to be nice and not push into drivers ahead of him who was also going slow.
Nevertheless, Verstappen ultimately won the Grand Prix, and when he was later asked how the meeting with the stewards and Russell went, he unleashed his wrath on the Mercedes driver.
The four-time World Champion said he was done with the 26-year-old as he had never seen anyone trying so hard to get someone penalized.
Verstappen also stated that he lost all his respect for Russell and that he behaves completely differently in private compared to when there are cameras around.
After these comments from the Dutchman, it was clear that the Mercedes driver would have to come with some response, and that he did. Speaking to the media ahead of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he said:
"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."
"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."
Russell then went on to point out that he believed Max Verstappen has been bullying other drivers for a long time, bringing out incidents with Lewis Hamilton from 2021, but also from the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.
During the race in Hungary, Verstappen lost his cool and lashed out at his engineer for giving him a car that wasn't competitive and putting him on the wrong strategy.
The Dutchman also collided with the seven-time World Champion as he went for a huge divebomb that wasn't successful in the end.
"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…"
"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."
George Russell then revealed what Max Verstappen told him when he confronted him on their way out of the stewards' room:
"He said, 'I don't know why you would want to screw me like this, I'm so disappointed in you. I was going to not even race you tomorrow, I was going to let you by, but now if I have to, I will purposely go out of my way to put you on your f****** head in the wall.'"
"So I don't understand why he was so unnecessarily aggressive and violent in that regard."
"We've got a guy who's on the top of this sport who feels he's above the law, and I don't think that's right."
While Russell acknowledged the Dutchman's qualities, he again noted that (in his opinion) many of Verstappen's key maneuvers were over the line and that the Dutchman was willing to take other drivers out.
"I admire his on-track battles, and when he's hard and aggressive. But what we saw in the end of the season in '21 or what we saw in Mexico with Lando, they weren't hard, aggressive maneuvers. They were 'do or die. I'm willing to take this guy out'. Which I don't think is the way we should go racing."
"I honestly just want to set the record straight, to be honest. Because it's just a total double standard that he has for the regulations, and just thinking that he is above everybody else."
While Russell didn't say anything in relation to what specifically happened in the steward's room in Qatar and whether he actually lied or wrongly accused Verstappen, he added that he couldn't accept what the Red Bull Racing F1 driver said about him.
"It's just somebody has come out and said that I'm a two-faced motherf****r, and he's entitled to his own opinions."
"But coming out and saying that publicly, and slamming me publicly, I'm just not going to accept it, and I'm going to tell people what the reality was."
"He pushes himself to the absolute limit week in, week out, and in 95 percent of the scenarios, that is incredible to see, and I respect him for that 95 percent."
"But there have been incidents that have gone unpunished. Maybe that is why he thinks he can get away with murder. But that is not the world we live in, and actions have consequences."
The Red Bull Racing F1 driver also spoke to the media ahead of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. When he was asked if he still stood by everything that he said about the Mercedes driver following the previous race, he said he absolutely did.
The Dutchman also noted that he might have said even more if he was put into the same situation again considering how the race ultimately played out.
We might get to hear what else Verstappen wanted to say after the Dutchman finds out everything that the Mercedes driver said about him during the press day ahead of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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