Former F1 race winner drops interesting reaction to post about the George Russell-Max Verstappen back-and-forth

Former F1 driver Pastor Maldonado recently gave an interesting reaction to George Russell's claim that Max Verstappen threatened to crash into him at the Qatar GP. This was amid the tussle between Russell and Verstappen regarding the one-place grid penalty at Qatar.

During qualifying for the Qatar GP, Verstappen was given a one-place grid penalty for impeding Russell while he was on a slow lap. After the qualifying, he explained how Russell pushed extra hard for the race stewards to give him a penalty. Sunday's race in Lusail went relatively smoothly as Verstappen overtook the Mercedes driver and won the race.

Coming into the Abu Dhabi GP, the heated row between George Russell and Max Verstappen continued. The Mercedes driver claimed that the four-time world champion threatened to intentionally crash into him during the Qatar GP.

"What he was doing was pretty clear. He was going too slow. He was on the racing line and we all had the rules to follow and he didn't follow it. I find his comments pretty ironic when he comes out and says 'I'm going to purposely crash into you, I'm going to put you on your f****** head in the wall',"

George Russell said that the Red Bull driver's action was unacceptable and that someone needed to take action against him.

"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. Now he's made it personal and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this - and so far people are letting him get away with murder."

Autosport posted a picture of the quote on Instagram where many F1 fans reacted to it. Among them, former F1 driver Pastor Maldonado also reacted to the quote and commented on the post. He interestingly replied with an emoji of a rooster in the comments section. Though no one knows the real meaning of what Maldonado wanted to express, many F1 fans reacted to his comment.

Paster Maldonado reacts to George Russell's comment on Max Verstappen (Image via Instagram/autosport)

Ever since George Russell and Max Verstappen's heated situation at Qatar GP, both drivers have clearly stated that they have lost respect for each other.

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George Russell and Max Verstappen admitting that they have lost respect for each other after Qatar GP debacle

After the Qatar GP, Max Verstappen spoke in the post-race press conference about how he was disappointed with the way George Russell tried extremely hard to put the blame on him and get him a penalty. He was disappointed to see another driver do so and admitted that he had lost all respect for the Mercedes driver.

"It was honestly very disappointing, because I think all of us here, we respect each other a lot. I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life and in my career with people that I’ve raced. And I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. For me, I lost all respect," Verstappen said.

Coming into Abu Dhabi GP, Russell claimed that Verstappen threatened to intentionally crash into him in Qatar GP. He added that even though he has known the Dutchman for 12 years, he has now lost respect for him as well.

"I've known Max for 12 years. I respected him all this time but now I have lost respect for him," Russell said.

As of now, Max Verstappen has won his fourth consecutive world championship and leads the table with 429 points. George Russell is down in sixth place with 235 points.