Ted Kravitz exposes George Russell’s media attack plan on Max Verstappen before the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP

F1 pundit Ted Kravitz revealed that Mercedes driver George Russell's media attack on Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was planned ahead of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Russell had held an explosive press conference ahead of the season finale last year in which he stood up and criticized the Dutch driver's 'bullying' comments leading up to the race.

The duo had a tense weekend in Qatar last season as the four-time F1 world champion believed that the Brit had tried to playact in the stewards' room to get him penalized after qualifying.

Both Verstappen and the Austrian team were outraged by the one-place penalty, which demoted the former to P2 and promoted Russell to pole position. In response, George Russell held a media session in which he criticized the Dutch driver for his comments and even described him as a 'bully'.

In his new book, Notes from the Pit Lane, Sky F1 reporter Ted Kravitz recalled and documented the media session from his perspective and revealed that George Russell had staged the media session to target Max Verstappen, saying:

“A minute before his time slot, up strode George. He called me over to the edge of the pen – ‘make sure you ask me a follow-up question’. ‘What do you mean?’ I asked. [He replied] ‘I’m going to give it back to Max. I’ve had enough of him bad-mouthing me in the press, and I’m going to call him out on his bullying tactics.

"I know you’re only supposed to ask me one question, but never mind that, I’m up for as many questions as you like’. Before checking to see if he was wearing a Drive to Survive microphone, I asked him if he was absolutely sure he wanted to escalate what was effectively last year’s story, and start a new fight with Max – never an easy battle to win. He said he was positive, and away he went.”

George Russell and Max Verstappen have continued their battles on and off the track in the 2025 season, and were involved in one of the most controversial moments this year in Spain.

F1 pundit makes a startling George Russell and Max Verstappen comparison

F1 pundit Jamie Chadwick stated that she believed that George Russell had become a more complete driver in the 2025 season, similar to Max Verstappen.

While appearing on the Sky F1 Show, the three-time W Series winner reflected and said:

"I think we talk a lot about how Max is that kind of complete driver but I do think George is coming into that. There's this category of racing driver that has got the ability to qualify, race wheel-to-wheel, not crash, perform under pressure, and there's very, very few of them at the moment, but I would 100 percent put George up there in that category."

George Russell has been one of four drivers to win multiple races in the 2025 season, with his most victory coming at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend.