George Russell on Verstappen: “someone needs to stand up to a bully like this”

George Russell has labelled four-time world champion Max Verstappen a "bully", escalating the ongoing war of words between the two Formula One drivers and yep, it’s all getting a bit EastEnders.

Russell responded to Verstappen’s comments following the latter’s one-place grid penalty at last week’s Qatar GP, adding that he too had "lost all respect" for his on-track rival.

If you’ve not yet watched this episode, a quick recap: Russell said Verstappen was driving too slowly on the racing line while trying to do a quali lap last week, which got Verstappen a grid penalty. Verstappen later said he’d lost respect for Russell because of it.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 ahead of this weekend’s season-ending race in Abu Dhabi, Russell said Verstappen threatened to crash into him on purpose, to which he said: "What happens on track is professional, what happens in the Stewards is professional, and like Carlos said to him on Sunday morning 'you would have done the exact same thing’.

"On Sunday in the race he lifted for a yellow, Lando doesn't lift for a yellow and he says to the team 'check what Lando does'. That's not personal against Lando, that is just racing.

"I've known Max for 12 years. I respected him all this time but now I have lost respect for him. We are all fighting on track and it's never personal. Now he's made it personal, and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this. So far, people are letting him get away with murder."

Yikes. Asked separately whether he regretted his comments about Russell last week, Verstappen appeared to double down. "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, knowing the outcome of the race result.

"I still can't believe that someone can be like that in a Stewards’ room. For me, that was so unacceptable, because I mean, we're all racing drivers. We all have a lot of respect for each other. We even play sports together. You travel together. And of course, you have moments where you get together, you crash or whatever. You're not happy.

"In my whole career, I've never experienced what I have experienced in the Stewards’ room in Qatar. And for me, that was really unacceptable," he added.

The verbal standoff now includes the team bosses too: last week Red Bull boss Christian Horner had claimed that Russell had been "hysterical" in the Stewards' room, to which Toto Wolff has reportedly replied: "Yapping little terrier. Always something to say... how dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver."

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