Threats, lies and backstabbing: How the Verstappen and Russell feud played out

The old adage of ‘if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’ has never really been adhered to within Formula 1 – and now George Russell and Max Verstappen are happy to air their dirty laundry in public after their falling out at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Verstappen was apoplectic last weekend when he was handed a one-place grid penalty for slowing down in front of Russell’s Mercedes during qualifying – even though neither driver was on a hot lap at the time.

With Verstappen having sealed pole, the Red Bull driver was hauled in front of the stewards where he and Russell fought their corner and the Dutchman was ultimately punished, with Russell the man moving onto pole position as a result.

Having won the drivers’ championship a week earlier, Verstappen was still able to take victory in Qatar before hitting out at Russell’s behaviour during the stewards’ enquiry.

It is worth noting the pair have previous, a coming together in the sprint race at Baku in 2023 led to a heated exchange of words, and there was also contact between the duo at the Italian Grand Prix earlier this season.

The issue in Qatar, however, has ratcheted up the tension in the relationship as the pair criticised one another openly during the media day for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Motorsport.com lays out the timeline of how a day of ill-will unfolded.

Qatar rant

Things really turned sour after Verstappen was slapped with a one-place demotion by the stewards – but it was Russell’s actions that seemingly riled the four-time world champion over the fact he was hit with the penalty, a decision which appeared to leave Verstappen more perplexed than angry.

“I couldn’t believe that I got it. But in a way I was also not surprised anymore in the world that I live in. I’m not happy with it, but at one point or another you have to just turn the page,” he said.

“It was clear-cut that around me there were different scenarios going on as well, with people having colder tyres and stuff, so they have to push anyway. I didn’t want to then cause a scene into the last corner and for nobody to have a lap.

“I was quite surprised, when sitting there in the stewards’ room, what was all going on. It was honestly very disappointing, because I think all of us here, we respect each other a lot.

“I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life and my career with people that I’ve raced. And I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. For me, I lost all respect.”

Speaking after losing out to Verstappen in the race, Russell said he had been “expecting a crash” as the Red Bull man aimed for victory.

Verstappen doubles down in Abu Dhabi

Driver press conferences on the Thursday of a race weekend can sometimes be rather boring affairs, with those selected to take questions from the world’s media often choosing to remain tight-lipped.

That has never been the case with Verstappen, who was handed community service having sworn during a press conference at the Singapore Grand Prix earlier this season, leading to him offering up monosyllabic answers for the remainder of the weekend.

It would have come as no surprise to anyone present in the media centre at the Yas Marina Circuit, then, that Verstappen was once again more than willing to speak out about the perceived slight from Russell during their time with the stewards in Qatar and outright accused the Mercedes driver of lying in the meeting.

“It’s nothing to do with him being the director of the GPDA,” he said when pushed on the matter by Motorsport.com.

“I 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 on [the stewards]. It was just really not nice and actually very shocking what was going on there.”

On whether he wished he had not spoken so openly about the incident in Qatar, Verstappen was unequivocal in his response: “No, 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 the stewards’ room. For me, that was so unacceptable, because 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.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also weighed in on the situation and said Russell had been “hysterical” in Qatar.

Russell’s earlier retort

Although there were no comments from Russell before Verstappen appeared in the press conference, the Brit had already spoken to a select number of media outlets – including Motorsport.com – earlier in the day.

The quotes from the session were embargoed until 1600 local time, meaning they were published after Verstappen had spoken out, despite the interview taking place before the media session in front of the television cameras.

Russell was therefore responding to what Verstappen had challenged him on in Qatar and did not back down when asked for his own take on what happened.

“I find it all quite ironic, considering Saturday night he said he’s going to purposely go out of his way to crash into me and, quote, “put me on my f****** head in the wall.”

“To question somebody’s integrity as a person, while saying comments like that the day before, I find it 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 whenever anything has gone against him.

“Jeddah ’21, Brazil ’21, he lashes out. Budapest this year, 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, because what happens on track, we fight hard. It’s part of racing. What happens in the steward’s room? You fight hard, but it’s never personal. But you know, he’s taking it too far now.”

Russell and Wolff bite back

Having no doubt seen Verstappen’s comments made to the live press conference just hours earlier, Russell’s full media session in Abu Dhabi allowed him to once again speak on the matter as he addressed previous run-ins for the world champion.

“I think he has been enabled because nobody has stood up to him, Lewis stood up to him in 2021, and Lewis lost that championship unfairly, could you imagine the roles being reversed and Max losing that championship and the manner in which Lewis lost that championship? [Michael] Masi would be fearing for his life,” he said.

“I am not looking to get Max penalised and I am not looking for any repercussions from this. I am standing up for myself for a guy who is coming out questioning my integrity as a person, slamming me in the press and I just want to set the record straight.

“As I said, everybody is entitled to their own opinion but for me, he crossed a line at the weekend and that was too much.

“It’s the same way as Max the very next day, asked his team to look at Lando’s penalty through the yellow flag. That’s not personal Max to Lando, that’s just racing. And I do not see why he felt the need for this personal attack. And I’m not going to take it.”

As Russell conducted his session, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff moved to the front of the room to address the media and took a tin opener to the can of worms that has been festering between himself and Horner for years: “Why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver? How does that come? Yapping little terrier. Always something to say.

“There is a thing between drivers, this is George and Max, and I don’t want to get involved in that but if the other team principal calls George hysteric this is when he crosses a line for me. He is not into intellectual psychoanalysis but that is quite a word. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver.”

Verstappen’s Dutch session

As is custom, Verstappen’s media day was rounded out by a huddle with the Dutch journalists within the F1 paddock.

With the final opportunity to strike in the tit-for-tat battle, Verstappen suggested there was now no way to rebuild his relationship with Russell: “He’s a backstabber. It doesn’t matter to me. You don’t have to talk too much about people like that, they are just losers.

“We had the last laugh, because in the end we won that race. They may have started on pole thanks to their nitpicking at the stewards, but 300 metres later they were behind us again. I can’t do anything about that either.”

Asked if his relationship with Russell was repairable, Verstappen replied: “No, but that doesn’t matter. We don’t have to be best friends. That’s not why I’m here, to be best friends with him.

“That’s not my goal in the paddock, so I don’t care that much about it…especially if someone acts like that towards you in front of the stewards. I’m done with him for a while.”

What happens next is anyone’s guess, but in the world of F1 there would be no surprise if the two end up sharing the same piece of track over the course of the weekend.

Photos from Abu Dhabi GP Thursday