George Russell has accused his Formula One rival Max Verstappen of threatening him with violence during the tensions that flared up between the drivers at the Qatar Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver revealed that the newly crowned world champion told him, 'he was going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and 'put me on my fucking head in the wall'.'
These accusations surfaced after Russell and Verstappen were involved in a dispute during qualifying for the race last weekend. Verstappen lost pole position for blocking Russell during qualifying, leading both drivers to seek out the stewards to discuss the incident. Verstappen, who expressed his frustration on Dutch television, stating he had 'lost all respect' for the Mercedes driver, went on to win the race but only after a one-place grid penalty saw him start behind Russell.
Russell told ESPN that his Red Bull rival said after leaving the stewards' room that he would harm him during the race. '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 fucking head in the wall',' Russell said. '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.'
'Whenever anything has gone against him, he lashes out. Budapest this year, the very first race the car wasn't dominant, crashing into Lewis [Hamilton], slamming his team … As I said, those comments on Saturday night and Sunday were totally disrespectful and unnecessary. Because what happens on track, we fight hard, that's part of racing. What happens in the stewards' room, you fight hard, but it's never personal. But he's taken it too far now.'
Red Bull has yet to respond to Russell's allegations.
Meanwhile, Hamilton has admitted he has struggled to control his emotions this season as he prepares to end his 12-year tenure at Mercedes. The 39-year-old, who signed a deal to join Ferrari from 2025 before the start of the season, has won six of his seven world championships with the Silver Arrows, but his final campaign with the team has not been smooth sailing.
Hamilton made the startling admission in Qatar last weekend that 'I am definitely not fast any more' after hinting in Brazil that he would not even finish the season with Mercedes. His struggles continued last time out, where a series of mistakes and misfortune left him at the back of the field and he asked his team to retire the car.
'It's been a very emotional year for me and I don't think I've been the best at handling my emotions this year,' Hamilton said. 'You've seen the best of me and the worst of me, but I'm not going to apologise as I'm human.'
Hamilton admits he did not expect to find the season so challenging, having informed Mercedes and team principal Toto Wolff of his decision to leave ahead of the campaign. 'The first meeting with Toto at the beginning of the year was awkward, so it was awkward from the get-go,' he added. 'Ultimately I anticipated it would be difficult but massively underestimated how difficult it would be. Realising these are the last moments with the team, it's hard to describe the feeling – not the greatest of course.'
Hamilton has been outperformed by his team-mate George Russell in 23 of the 29 qualifying sessions staged this season and is set to finish behind his compatriot in the championship. This weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be Hamilton's 246th race with the team, with 84 victories and six world titles under his belt since joining from McLaren in 2013.
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