George Russell has accused Max Verstappen of threatening him (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
George Russell and Max Verstappen are currently embroiled in a vicious spat, but there was a possibility that the duo would become F1 team-mates after the Mercedes driver’s comments earlier this year
George Russell previously said he would relish the opportunity to drive with Max Verstappen at Mercedes – but that now seems like ancient history.
The 26-year-old has been locked in a tumultuous row with Verstappen this week after the latter allegedly threatened to crash into the Brit at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver claimed the Dutchman said ‘I’ll put you on your f***ing head, in the wall’ when their argument erupted into a jaw-dropping blaze.
The pair had been involved in an altercation at Qatar GP qualifying, which saw Verstappen receive a one-place grid penalty by the stewards. As a result, Russell was promoted to pole with Verstappen second on the grid.
When the duo were summoned to the stewards, this year’s world champion told Russell that he had “lost all respect” for Russell. However, it wasn’t too long ago that Russell suggested he would relish the chance to be on the same team as Verstappen, having made comments to that effect back in May.
With Lewis Hamilton moving across to Ferrari for the 2025 campaign, Verstappen was linked with a move to Mercedes earlier this year. Amid Red Bull’s early season dramas they were experiencing, largely off the track surrounding team principal Christian Horner, there were repeated rumours that Dutchman Verstappen was looking for a way out – especially as dad Jos isn’t a big fan of Horner too.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has previously said that he would love to have Verstappen within his ranks too. And when Russell was asked about the prospect, his feelings were similar several months ago when he said: “I’d be all for it.
“You know, coming into Mercedes in 2022 off the back of Lewis’s legendary years and victories, that was a huge task for anybody jumping into a team where he’s been for so long.
“I believe in myself, and you need to go up against the best in the same machinery and show what you have got, so I feel that having Lewis as my team-mate for the past three years. He’s been a hell of a team-mate, such a great driver.
“And we push each other every single week and I think it’s fair to say that, so I will welcome Max, I want to go up against the best. Everybody wants to prove what they’ve got, so make it happen.”
It’s likely Russell would need the entire off-season to get his head around the idea of Verstappen joining, if Wolff ever was still able to convince the Dutchman to join. Their feud is well and truly bubbling over the surface coming into this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
When asked about Russell this week, Verstappen said: “You know what it is? He acts decent in front of the camera here, but when you talk to him personally, he is it is a different person. I can’t stand that. In that case you can better f*** off.”
Russell would respond in the press by saying: “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.” He added: “People have been bullied by Max for years now, and you can’t question his driving abilities. But he cannot deal with adversity. Whenever anything has gone against him – Jeddah ’21, Brazil ’21 – he lashes out.
“Budapest this year, the very first race the car wasn’t dominant, crashing into Lewis, slamming his team. As I said, for me, those comments on Saturday night and Sunday were totally disrespectful and unnecessary.”
