The contentious end to the F1 2024 season between Max Verstappen and George Russell saw tensions rise, and the Mercedes driver says he won’t back down.
An on-track incident between Verstappen and Russell during qualifying in Qatar led the Dutch driver to slam the Mercedes man and state he had lost “all respect” for Russell.
What triggered Max Verstappen vs. George Russell argument?
With both Verstappen and Russell on a slow lap during qualifying in Qatar, Russell appeared caught out by catching the slow-moving Verstappen as the reigning World Champion was circulating back to the pits.
The two were summoned to the stewards with the result being a one-place grid penalty for Verstappen – despite both having been on a cooldown lap.
Appearing in the FIA post-race media session, Verstappen said he had “lost all respect” for Russell over the way he claims the Mercedes driver acted in the stewards’ room.
“I was quite surprised when sitting there in the stewards’ room, what was all going on,” said Verstappen at the time.
“Honestly, very disappointing. Because I think we all respect each other a lot. And of course, I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life and my career with people that I’ve raced and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard.
“And I lost all respect.”
Speaking to his native Dutch media, Verstappen went further and accused Russell of being two-faced.
“You know what it is? He acts decent in front of the camera here, but when you talk to him personally, he is a different person,” he said.
“I can’t stand that. In that case you can better f**k off.”
A week later, in Abu Dhabi, the situation escalated as Russell addressed the topic during what was an extraordinary media session.
“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.
“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.
Russell went on to say that he believes Verstappen can’t deal with adversity, comparing his behaviour against that of then-teammate Lewis Hamilton in the face of tough circumstances, and said, “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.”
The tensions between Russell and Verstappen thus form a backdrop against which two expected frontrunners in F1 2025 will battle, with the British driver revealing at the F175 launch in London last month that he and Verstappen have not chatted since their contretemps.
“I’ve got no intentions [to], to be honest,” the Mercedes driver said in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live.
“That happened last year. I want to focus on myself. Things got out of line last year. That was then. We are not going to go back to being best mates, that’s for sure.”
But cowed by the situation, Russell insists he is not – while Verstappen’s aggression may be intimidating to some, Russell said he has no intentions of backing down if tempers escalate on track.
“I wasn’t going to just stand and be bullied around. People seem to always back down to him. And that’s just not how I go about my business,” he told the BBC.
“I’m not there to be best mates with a world champion. I’m here to win. And that’s his mentality as well. There’s no love lost.
“I’ve never been scared to race against Max. I’ve always put up a fight.”
Intriguingly, there’s also an extra dynamic at play if Verstappen does decide to leave Red Bull at any time in the neat future – Mercedes’ Toto Wolff has made no secret of the fact he’d love to bring Verstappen into the fold at Brackley, should the Dutch driver feel like a change of scenery before the end of his existing contract in 2028.
Should Verstappen work out an arrangement with Mercedes any time soon, it would thus mean either becoming Russell’s teammate – if Kimi Antonelli made way – or replacing Russell himself.
But Russell insists he isn’t concerned by the theoretical possibility.
“I don’t think there’s any pressure whatsoever,” he said.
“All I need to do is continue doing what I’m doing, continue doing what I’ve done my whole career.
“So that changes nothing. And it’s not even something I’m thinking about. Because I 100 percent back myself. It’s as simple as that. You perform and everything will be there for you.
“I want to go up against the best. I don’t feel that my ability is in question.”
Russell has inherited the de facto team leadership role at Mercedes following the departure of Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari, with the Mercedes protege – with whom Russell enjoyed support from through junior categories since 2017 and through his Williams tenure – the first product of the team’s junior programme to reach the factory race seat.
All eyes are now on Russell to see whether he has the mettle to become a World Championship-contending driver but, at this stage of the championship, Russell doubts neither he or Verstappen will be challenging McLaren for race wins.
“I don’t think either of us right now have a car that potentially is capable of beating the McLaren,” he said.
“McLaren, without doubt, look by far the strongest. Especially their race pace looks pretty impressive.”