The 2024 Formula 1 season is set to finish up in Abu Dhabi over the weekend.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen already wrapped up his fourth consecutive championship, but the drama around him has not dissipated.
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Mercedes driver George Russell accused Verstappen of bullying and threatening behavior following an issue between the two at last weekend’s race in Qatar. Verstappen said Sunday he “lost all respect” for the British star after an incident cost Verstappen the pole position for the grand prix.
“I’ve known Max for 12 years, I’ve respected him all of this time but now I’ve lost respect for him because we’re all fighting on track and it’s never personal,” Russell said Thursday, via Sky Sports.
“Now he’s made it personal and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this. And so far, people have let him get away with murder.”
Russell alleged that Verstappen threatened Saturday to “purposefully crash” into him. He said Verstappen crossed the line.
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“For me that is unacceptable, and he’s gone beyond the line here, and I’m not going to accept it. So somebody’s got to stand up to a guy like this before it gets out of control,” he said.
Russell questioned Verstappen’s racing tactics as well.
“Whenever anything is not going his way, he lashes out with unnecessary anger and borderline violence,” he said. “That is not a guy who I respect, and I wish he would be a better role model.”
Verstappen came under a shroud of controversy in Qatar as he was given a one-place grid penalty for driving “unnecessarily slow” on the racing line. Russell complained that Verstappen’s move was “super dangerous” to his team on the radio.
Verstappen accused Russell of lying to draw the penalty.
“No regrets at all because I meant everything I said and it’s still the same. If I had to do it again, maybe I would have said even more,” Verstappen said. “Just never expected someone to really try and actively get someone a penalty that badly and lying about why I was doing what I was doing. But clearly, it had an influence to (the stewards). It was just really not nice and actually very shocking what was going on.”
Verstappen ended up winning last week. Russell won in Las Vegas the weekend prior to Qatar.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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