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 stated 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 stated “I’ll purposely exit of my method 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. Do you recognize what I can’t stand? The manner he assaults me unacceptably with the stewards after which acts like nothing occurred the following day, patting me on the shoulder. I believe, ‘Stay away from me.’
“He invents all kinds of nonsense. With me, you at all times get the identical: right here, at residence, with the stewards — I don’t change. You can’t say the identical about everybody. But I’m not shocked by him.”
Doubling down on his feedback about Verstappen, Russell stated 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.
“Could you think about the roles being reversed?” Russell stated. “Max dropping that championship within the method that Lewis misplaced that championship. I imply, [Michael] Masi could be fearing for his life.”
Those remarks introduced one other agency response from Verstappen, who stated: “George is a backstabber. The manner 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 habits 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 urged 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 stated. “That causes frustration. But we’re having the final snort as a result of we received the race final week.
“They began on pole due to their nitpicking with the stewards, however 300 meters later, they have been already behind. Everything Russell provides is irrelevant. I used to be very relaxed with the stewards, having already secured the championship. But he needed to be dramatic to start out first.”
