GEOR DROPPING
George Russell claims Max Verstappen threatened to crash into him and ‘put my f***ing head in the wall’
Russell detailed exactly how he claims the confrontation with Verstappen unfolded
GEORGE RUSSELL claims Max Verstappen threatened to put his “f****** head in the wall” by deliberately crashing into him at the Qatar Grand Prix.
The duo’s bitter feud exploded into all-out war yesterday ahead of Sunday’s Formula One season finale in Abu Dhabi.
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Mercedes star Russell branded the four-time world champ a “bully” — with the Dutchman hitting back by labelling him a “backstabber” and “loser”.
The astonishing spat was sparked by the one-place grid penalty for Red Bull’s Verstappen last weekend in Qatar for driving “unnecessarily slowly” to block Russell.
The Brit, 26, said: “Whenever anything is not going his way he lashes out with unnecessary anger and borderline violence.
“He said to me he is going to purposely go out of his way to crash into me and put my ‘f***ing head in the wall’.
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“I saw in his eyes that he meant it. I’ve lost respect for him.
“People have been bullied by Max for years. He’s been enabled because nobody’s stood up to him.”
Russell’s extraordinary rant came after 27-year-old rival Verstappen accused him of lying to influence stewards over the Qatar incident.
But Russell — who is a director of trade union the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association — hit back yesterday and said: “I don’t know why he felt the need for this personal attack and I’m not going to take it.
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“People need to stand up to a bully like this. He cannot deal with adversity. There is nothing to lie about. He was going too slow.”
However, Verstappen denied warning Russell he would deliberately crash into him.
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He blasted: “That’s not true. He’s trying to exaggerate it again.
“He’s a backstabber. You shouldn’t talk too much about people like that, because they’re just losers.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that from the stewards. I found his behaviour unacceptable.
“It has nothing to do with him being head of the Drivers’ Association. He simply lied.”
Verstappen has been in a number of spats this season, most notably at Budapest in July when he crashed into Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and fought with his own team on the radio.
Russell added: “The second he does not have the fastest car, he crashes into Lewis, slams his team and loses the plot.
“Straight after, 25 per cent of his engineering team were sending CVs because they said they can’t deal with a guy like that.
“Lewis stood up to him in 2021 and lost that championship unfairly.
“Can you imagine Max losing the way Lewis lost it? [Former race director Michael] Masi would be fearing for his life.”
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff gatecrashed Russell’s press conference, dubbing Red Bull chief Christian Horner a “yapping little terrier” after he called Russell “hysterical”.
SunSport have approached the FIA for a comment on Russell’s accusation.
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