Max Verstappen called George Russell a “loser” and a “backstabber” in response to being labelled “bully” as the argument between the pair continued to escalate ahead of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Earlier in the day, Russell claimed Verstappen threatened to “put my f***ing head in the wall” during an heated exchange in the stewards room at last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
When those comments were put to the four-time world champion, Verstappen replied: “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.”
Russell said he didn’t want to “sit here and accept” Verstappen’s alleged behaviour. The argument between the Mercedes driver and his Red Bull rival began over a one-place grid penalty Verstappen received in Qatar for impending Russell in qualifying.
Although Verstappen won the race, the Dutchman was livid and accused the British driver of trying to “screw him over hard” in the stewards room. Verstappen doubled down on his comments in Abu Dhabi, insisting that Russell was “lying”.
Russell responded: “I find it all quite ironic seeing as Saturday night he said he was going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and ‘put me on my f---ing head in the wall.
"So 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.”
When those comments were put to Verstappen following the pre-race media day, the Dutchman replied: “Yeah, but George is a backstabber. The way he brings up all this nonsense, he’s just a loser.
“He lies and cobbles things together that don’t add up. I only voiced my opinion about his behavior with the stewards. Clearly, he couldn’t handle that.”
