Awkward moment Max Verstappen addresses George Russell feud after Formula One star labelled champion a ‘bully’ following X-rated bust-up last season
It seems there’s been no love lost between Max Verstappen and George Russell after the Dutch driver gave an update on whether the pair had finally made up.
The reigning Formula One world champion and British Mercedes driver have been at loggerheads for some time and it appears they’re no closer to making up.
It came after Russell called Verstappen ‘a bully’ following last year’s Qatar Grand Prix. Verstappen, who won the race, had been penalised for impeding the Brit, with Russell subsequently sparking the war of words.
‘People have been bullied by Max for years now,’ the Brit said. Verstappen replied: ‘George is a backstabber. That he brings all this stuff up. He’s just a loser.’
And it appears the pair still haven’t squashed their beef, with Verstappen being pressed on the matter following the Australian Grand Prix.
Asked if they had cleared the air during his press conference, Verstappen said flatly: ‘No, it’s still shockingly bad.
Max Verstappen delivered a brutally blunt five-word response when pressed on his relationship with George Russell
Verstappen (left) and Russell (right) have been feuding since the Qatar Grand Prix last year
‘It’s all good, it’s all good,’ he added, unconvincingly. Russell added: ‘What he said.’
Russell, who smiled to himself after Verstappen’s comments, has also spoken out on their feud, prior to this week’s Australian Grand Prix.
‘I wasn’t going to just stand and be bullied around,’ Russell, who finished third behind Verstappen on Sunday, said to BBC Sport.
‘People seem to always back down to him. And that’s just not how I go about my business.
‘I’m not there to be best mates with a world champion. I’m here to win, and that’s his mentality as well. There’s no love lost.
‘I’ve never been scared to race against Max. I’ve always put up a fight.’
Their spat has evolved over the last year notably while Toto Wolff has expressed a desire to bring the Red Bull driver to Mercedes.
Despite failing to secure victory today, Verstappen was very happy with placing P2.
Their feud arose after Russell had claimed that Verstappen was a ‘bully’ following the Qatar GP in 2024
Verstappen, meanwhile, offered a positive outlook on his performance, adding that he felt the Red Bull car had performed better than expected
‘It was a difficult race of course,’ he said to Sky Sports.
‘Lando had a little moment on entry into [turn] six so he lost a lot of momentum there.
‘That’s how I got close and I got the DRS. I got close but it’s very hard to pass around here.’
He added: ‘I’m just very happy to bring it home and score good points. This was a decent starting point for us.
On the car, he added it was performing better than expected, having expressed troubles with the new vehicle in the off-season.
‘It is better than I expected it to be. You can see in the first stint we were lacking a little bit of pace compared to the McLaren. But it’s still 18 points more than what I had here last year.’
