George Russell insisted his run-in with Max Verstappen was in the past but reiterated that he will not be pushed around on track.

The Mercedes driver publicly fell out with his Red Bull counterpart at the end of last season but in a new year and with a winter break behind him, Russell wants it to be water under the bridge.

George Russell stands on firm on Max Verstappen tactics

Verstappen and Russell clashed in the stewards room of the Qatar Grand Prix in an incident that escalated to the point of the Dutchman saying he had lost all respect for Russell afterwards.

The bad blood continued into the season finale with Russell launching an extraordinary tirade against Verstappen but now he has looked to calm the waters, if not completely extending out an olive branch.

“No, we haven’t spoken, [I have] no concerns about him or his driving or anything,” Russell told media including PlanetF1.com at the F175 event.

“That happened last year and I want to focus on myself. Obviously, things I felt got out of line at the end of last year, and made it pretty clear that I’m not going to kind of take it.

“But now, it’s 2025 and I’m focused on the job – and the job is to win.

“So you know, I’m not going to change my approach, fighting him, fighting any other drivers. The goal is the same, and I guess we’ll see when we get to Melbourne.”

Russell enters the 2025 season as the senior figure at Mercedes following the exit of Lewis Hamilton and the arrival of 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli but the driver entering into his fourth season with the team already felt ready for the step up.

“Even if the lineup stayed the same this year, I’m going into this season as my fourth year with Mercedes. It’s my seventh year in F1,” the 27-year-old said. “I feel last year was probably my strongest season ever.

“I feel I’m just getting stronger year on year. So as I said, even if things had stayed the same, I felt a huge amount of support from the team.

“Kimi is a super fast driver, super motivated. Naturally for any driver in their first year, there is a lot to learn but I’m sure, it’s going to be a good season together.”