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Lando Norris delivered his verdict on the cold battle between Max Verstappen and George Russell after the latter claimed the Dutchman 'intimidates' his opponents. While Norris said he finds them "amusing to watch," he denied the claims from Russell.
Verstappen and Russell are currently in an unpleasant situation as the two drivers have shared harsh words for each other following the Qatar Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver claimed that Verstappen had blocked him during the qualifying session. This stripped the latter's pole position and Russell started P1. However, it was Verstappen who won.
A verbal battle has been going on between the two and Verstappen even went on to say that he "lost all respect" for Russell. Amidst the debate, Lando Norris was asked if things would get smoothed out between the two drivers. In a hilarious response, the McLaren driver said that he finds it "amusing" to watch them quarrel.
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"I hope it doesn't get smoothed out! I hope they stay fighting and arguing, it's amusing to watch!" he told Sky F1.
He further denied the claims of Max Verstappen "intimidating" fellow drivers, that Russell had made against the Red Bull driver.
"It depends. Every other driver has their own way of doing things. I don't think Max tries to intimidate. Max just says the truth in his opinion. A lot of the time he just says the truth about things."
George Russell claims Max Verstappen will "Put me on my f***ing head in the wall"
Ahead of the final race of the 2024 F1 season, George Russell claimed that Max Verstappen told him that he would purposefully crash into his Mercedes during the race as the situation between the two has seemingly escalated.
Speaking to the media in Abu Dhabi, the 26-year-old said that Verstappen has bullied multiple drivers on the grid until now, but he is not going to "sit here and accept it."
"I find it all quite ironic considering Saturday night he said he's going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and, quote, 'Put me on my f***ing 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 very ironic."
"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, the very first race car wasn't dominant, crashing into Lewis, slamming his team."
The Brit further said the situation that arose in the stewards' room in Qatar wasn't personal and Max Verstappen had taken the situation "too far."
"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 stewards room, you fight hard, but it's never personal."
"But he’s taken it too far now."
The showdown between the two drivers would be decided at Yas Marina during the final race of the season. Verstappen was earlier crowned the 2024 F1 World Champion after the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
