Max Verstappen has refuted George Russell’s model of the arguments between the 2 following qualifying in Qatar, describing him as a “backstabber” after additional exchanges forward of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Russell hit out at Verstappen on Thursday after the world champion had mentioned he had misplaced all respect for the Mercedes driver for lobbying the stewards over a possible penalty final weekend. In his response, Russell claimed Verstappen mentioned “I’ll purposely exit of my technique to put you in your f****** head within the wall” forward of the race, one thing the Dutchman denied.
“That’s not true; I didn’t say it like that,” Verstappen was quoted as saying by De Telegraaf. “He’s exaggerating once more. Are you aware what I can’t stand? The best way he assaults me unacceptably with the stewards after which acts like nothing occurred the following day, patting me on the shoulder. I believe, ‘Keep away from me.’
“He invents all types of nonsense. With me, you at all times get the identical: right here, at residence, with the stewards — I don’t change. You’ll be able to’t say the identical about everybody. However I’m not stunned by him.”
Doubling down on his feedback about Verstappen, Russell mentioned afterward Thursday that his rival has been enabled as a result of no one has stood as much as him, citing his beliefs that Lewis Hamilton was the final driver to take action in 2021.
“May you think about the roles being reversed?” Russell mentioned. “Max shedding that championship within the method that Lewis misplaced that championship. I imply, Masi can be fearing for his life.”
These remarks introduced one other agency response from Verstappen, who mentioned: “George is a backstabber. The best way he brings up all this nonsense — he’s only a loser. He lies and cobbles issues collectively that don’t add up.
“I solely voiced my opinion about his conduct with the stewards. Clearly, he couldn’t deal with that. And his feedback about 2021? That’s how he acted with the stewards, insinuating nonsense.”
With Russell additionally claiming Verstappen’s conduct in Hungary this 12 months had led to 25% of his engineering crew sounding out work elsewhere, the four-time world champion instructed there’s been a much bigger motion of personnel in the other way.
“It’s powerful for them, particularly since we’ve poached many individuals from Mercedes for our engine program,” Verstappen mentioned. “That causes frustration. However we’re having the final snort as a result of we gained the race final week.
“They began on pole due to their nitpicking with the stewards, however 300 meters later, they had been already behind. The whole lot Russell provides is irrelevant. I used to be very relaxed with the stewards, having already secured the championship. However he needed to be dramatic to begin first.”
