George Russell continued his extraordinary attack on Max Verstappen and accused him of not being able to handle adversity.
Having earlier labelled Verstappen a bully, Russell doubled down and went on a lengthy condemnation of the reigning World Champion.
George Russell slams Max Verstappen in defence of Qatar GP actions
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Having spoken to a select group of media early in Abu Dhabi, Russell was presented to the world press where he continued his defence against Verstappen’s claims.
“It’s just funny, because even before I said a word in the stewards’ [room], he was swearing at the stewards,” Russell told media including PlanetF1.com at the Yas Marina circuit.
“He was so angry before I’d even spoken, and at the end of the day, there’s nothing to lie about. The facts were the facts. He was going too slow. He was on the racing line, the highest speed one. I wasn’t trying to get him a penalty at all. When I was on track, I was in pole position at this time, I was just trying to prepare my lap.
“And as drivers, you fight hard on track. You fight hard in the stewards’ the same way as Max the very next day asked his team to look at Lando’s penalty through the yellow flag. That’s not personal Max to Lando, that’s just racing, and I do not see why he felt the need for this personal attack, and I’m not going to take it.
“We’re adults, and we’re mature, and as I said right now, it’s not even something I’m thinking about. I never have the intention to throw Max under the bus like this, until he comes out and slams me so personally. But this is not like I’m angry with Max. This is me just setting the record straight, but I’m not going to stand here watching some guy slam me personally, as he has.
“I’ve known Max for a long time, and I know what he’s capable of. And you know, he said to me, he’s gonna purposely go out his way to crash into me, ‘put me on my f**king head in the wall.’
“I knew that was a bit of a heat of the moment thing, but when I went to see him the next day at the driver’s parade, Checo was there, Carlos was there, and we were joking around a little bit, you know, I saw it in his eyes that he means it.
“He’s a four time World Champion. When I compare his actions to the ones of Lewis. Lewis is the sort of World Champion who I aspire to be like, you know, the way he fought Max in ‘21 it’s hard, very hard. It’s fair, but never beyond the line. And I think we’ve also got a duty as drivers.
“I’ve got an eight-year-old nephew who’s just started go karting, who watches all of my races, watches Tiktok, watches YouTube, and for a World Champion to be come out, and he’s going to go out of his way to crash into someone and put them on their f**king head. That is not the sort of role models we should be.
“I’m not changing my mindset whatsoever. And also, in Qatar, I didn’t change my mindset whatsoever. You know, the start was pretty tame in Qatar, we both made a good start. So he just got ahead, and I was expecting a little bit more, but we have to see that. As I said, I’m not losing any sleep over it.
“I never, as I said, had the intention of coming out and speaking to you all like this, but he’s gone too far now with his personal attack, and now I’m returning the favour and putting the truth out there.
“So as of tonight, for me, this is put to bed, and it’s in race mode, and I’m focused on the weekend. I don’t need to talk to him, I don’t need to talk to him at all. There’s nothing. There’s nothing for me to say.
“Honestly, I’m an adult. I’m not losing any sleep over it whatsoever. I know what Max is like. This is not the first time I’ve seen him like this. I’ve seen him like this as a 14-year-old in the go kart paddock. So this is just me sharing what really happened on Saturday.
“I don’t really know what there is to escalate. As I said, I walked into that stewards’ with no problem with Max. I walked out of that stewards’ with no problem with Max.
“Then s**t hits the fan, and the words he said to me, but again, I went back, and I told my team, and we laughed about it, and then I woke up the next day, and I was expecting to have a laugh about it, but as I said, I saw the fire in his eyes, so I don’t know why this topic has got him so angry.
“Like I said to you before, he cannot deal with adversity. He’s had the most dominant car in recent history for two and a half years. I’m not questioning his driving abilities one single bit, but the second he does not have the fastest car… Let’s take Budapest as an example.
“He crashes into Lewis, he slams his whole team, and he loses the plot. You know, straight away after that race, 25% of his engineering team were sending their CVs to Mercedes, to McLaren to Aston Martin, because they said they can’t deal with a guy like that. And since Austria, he’s won the same number of races as six other drivers.
“So when you say is Max beatable? Of course, he’s beatable. You know, when he’s in the most dominant car, he is not beatable. The same way as Lewis and I when we had the most dominant car in Silverstone, in Las Vegas, we were not beatable either.
“I think he’s been enabled, because nobody’s stood up to him. Lewis stood up to him in 2021 and Lewis lost that championship unfairly.
“Could you imagine the roles being reversed and Max losing that championship in the manner that Lewis lost that championship? I mean, [former FIA race director Michael] Masi would have been fearing for his life.
Russell added: “So, as I said, some of the recent incidents, he has been punished, and he punished himself. Mexico with the reckless overtakes, Budapest with the reckless overtake but it’s just in the past, he has such a dominant car, he’s not been in this position.
“I think the FIA are pretty, pretty on it now, and I don’t think much needs to change from their viewpoint, because he’s going to punish himself one way or another.
“I’m not looking to get Max penalised. I’m not looking for any repercussions from this. I am standing up for myself, for a guy who is coming out, questioning my integrity as a person, slamming me in the press. And I just want to set the record straight. As I said, everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, but for me, he crossed a line at the weekend, and that was too much.
“I honestly think it could have been anybody in that stewards’ room and Max would have reacted the same way. He’s made it personal when there was no need to make it personal.
“You know what happened in Baku was nothing. He’s a year older than me, we only crossed paths once in go karts in 2011 but as I said, he was wound up and frustrated before I even spoke in that stewards’ room.
“And I’m confident, no matter who it would have been sat on the opposite chair who just said the facts in the stewards’ room, he would have reacted the exact same way.”