ABU DHABI – Mercedes driver George Russell has accused Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen of bullying and threatening behavior as a dispute between the two at last week's race in Qatar deepened Thursday.
Verstappen said Sunday he had “lost all respect” for Russell after an incident between them in qualifying cost him pole position on the grid for the Qatar Grand Prix.
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“I've known Max for 12 years, I've respected him all of this time but now I've lost respect for him because we're all fighting on track and it's never personal," Russell said in comments broadcast by Sky Sports on Thursday ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
“Now he’s made it personal and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this. And so far people have let him get away with murder.”
Russell alleged Verstappen had threatened Saturday to “purposefully crash” into him.
“For me that is unacceptable and he’s gone beyond the line here and I’m not going to accept it. So somebody’s got to stand up to a guy like this before it gets out of control,” Russell added.
Russell also criticized Verstappen's treatment of other drivers on track, bringing up incidents such as Verstappen's tactics against Lando Norris at this year's Mexican Grand Prix, for which the Dutch driver picked up two penalties, and while battling Lewis Hamilton in the past.
“Whenever anything is not going his way, he lashes out with unnecessary anger and borderline violence," Russell said. “That is not a guy who I respect and I wish he would be a better role model.”
Verstappen was fastest, with Russell second, in Saturday’s qualifying in Qatar but a stewards’ inquiry gave him a one-place penalty for driving “unnecessarily slowly” on the racing line in an incident with Russell, who moved up to first on the grid.
Russell complained over the radio that it was “super dangerous” that he’d had to avoid Verstappen ahead of him, though neither was trying to set a competitive lap time at that stage of the session. Grid penalties for incidents in qualifying that don't affect the results are relatively rare.
Speaking Thursday in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen said he stood by his earlier comments and accused Russell of having lied to ensure he got a penalty last week.
“No regrets at all because I meant everything I said and it’s still the same. If I had to do it again, maybe I would have said even more,” Verstappen said. “Just never expected someone to really try and actively get someone a penalty that badly and lying about why I was doing what I was doing. But clearly, it had an influence to (the stewards). It was just really not nice and actually very shocking what was going on.”
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