George Russell and Max Verstappen, venomous back-and-forth
The words of Max Verstappen
It's war between Max Verstappen and George Russell. The Briton è returned to the attack after Qatar: "Saturday night he told me he would do anything to knock me out and put my f—ing head against the wall. My moral integrity is not to be questioned for any reason".
"For too many years so many pilots have been bullied by Max,” George continued.
“No one doubts his qualities as a pilot, but when things go wrong he reacts this way. Remember when he was going after Hamilton in 2021? È it happened in Brazile, in Jeddah and also other times. He disrespected me and è went too far with personal attacks, he feels he is above the law. Clarification? I don’t need to talk to him, I have nothing to say".
" I only explained to the stewards how things went. He was already angry before, maybe because he doesn't have a dominant machine anymore like he had for two and a half years. Then he becomes beatable and gets nervous. È a four-time world champion and if I compare his behaviors to Lewis's are very different, he would never dream of someone saying he wants to send him against the wall".
Max Verstappen’s response was not long in coming: "I never said anything like that, he makes up a lot of things that are not true. I can’t stand that he attacks me unacceptably with the stewards and then the next day he pats me on the back. And then I think, 'stay away from me for a while’'. I’m the same here, at home and in front of the commissioners, I don’t change".
"They are in trouble; becauseé so many of their elements have joined our motor program and therefore frustration emerges. We are the last ones to laugh, becauseé we won last week. They started on the pole because of that manipulation in front of the marshals, but 300 meters after the start they were already behind".
"George è the real bully, è a loser. He lies by saying a lot of false things. I just expressed my opinion about his behavior with the stewards. And what he said about 2021 shows how he insinuates nonsense. Did he have tears in his eyes from anger? Last week at the stewards’ it wasnè t so dramatic the situation. He was relaxed. Maybe next time he really will be. Then I will bring himò handkerchiefs…".