"Max Verstappen told me he would put me on my f****** head in the wall", claims Mercedes' George Russell

The war of words between Max Verstappen and George Russell has intensified, with the Mercedes driver revealing the threat from the Red Bull driver to crash into him in turn 1 in the Qatar GP. The 2024 F1 championship had laid into the British driver after the race in Qatar, as he accused him of behaving differently in front of the cameras and stewards.

Max Verstappen was given a one-place penalty after the F1 Qatar GP qualifying for driving unnecessarily slowly. The penalty was a result of the driver impeding George Russell, causing damage to his floor and hence costing him a shot at pole position. After the race, the Dutch was quite blunt in his assessment of Russell and said that he had lost all respect for the British driver.

Russell had left the track in Qatar by the time these comments were made by Max Verstappen. However, talking to media including Sportskeeda, Russell responded to Verstappen's remarks and revealed how the Red Bull driver had threatened to crash into him.

"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'. So to question somebody's integrity as a person while saying comments like that the day before, I find very ironic."

In the race, Max Verstappen came out on top and won, while George Russell finished the race in P4 on Sunday, December 1.

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"Max Verstappen cannot deal with adversity": George Russell

Further reiterating his criticism of Max Verstappen's driving approach and his conduct in the past, George Russell said that while the Dutch driver is brilliant on the track most of the time, he tends to struggle whenever he has to deal with adversity. Russell said,

"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."

Voicing his disapproval of the four-time champion's remarks and labeling them as 'disrespectful' and 'unnecessary', Russell added:

"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 latest war of words is certainly going to be interesting because both drivers tend to have a temperament where neither wants to back down in a battle.