Max Verstappen brands George Russell as a 'loser' and a 'bully' in the latest war of words
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen labeled Mercedes driver George Russell as a loser and a bully amid their war of words ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend. The two F1 drivers have been butting heads ever since the end of the qualifying session at the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend.
The four-time F1 world champion had blocked the three-time race winner in the Q3 session, for which he received a one-place grid penalty for the main race on Sunday. Although the Dutch driver was able to recover the position of the line and went on to win the race, he was livid at Russell's antics in the stewards room after qualifying.
Speaking with the media including Sportskeeda, George Russell said in his reply to Max Verstappen's comments:
"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."
However, Verstappen responded to Russell's accusations and told de Telegraaf:
"Yes, but George is a bully. That he brings all this stuff in. He's just a loser. He lies and pastes all kinds of things together that are not true. I only gave my opinion about his behavior with the stewards. He's clearly not into that. What he said about 2021, that's how it went down with the stewards. He insinuates a lot of things that don't make sense."
Max Verstappen chimes in on George Russell's claims in Abu Dhabi
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen defended himself when George Russell claimed that the driver physically threatened him to "put his head through a f***king wall" at the Abu Dhabi GP.
As per ESPN, the 27-year-old remarked that the British driver was exaggerating his words but was not surprised by him. He said:
"That's not true; I didn't say it like that. He's exaggerating again. Do you know what I can't stand? The way he attacks me unacceptably with the stewards and then acts like nothing happened the next day, patting me on the shoulder.
"I think, 'Stay away from me.' He invents all sorts of nonsense. With me, you always get the same: here, at home, with the stewards -- I don't change. You can't say the same about everyone. But I'm not surprised by him."
Earlier in the pre-race press conference, Max Verstappen had acknowledged that he did not regret making his initial remarks against George Russell and doubled down that he would have spilled even more information had he known that he would end up winning the race in Qatar.