George Russell pulls back the curtain on abuse from 'Dutch fans' for lashing out against Max Verstappen last season

Mercedes driver George Russell claimed that he faced online abuse from the Dutch fans after he lashed out against Red Bull driver Max Verstappen last season. The British driver did not hold back on his comments against the four-time F1 world champion after the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.

The two had differing views on the series of events in the steward's room after the qualifying session in Lusail, which resulted in the Dutchman getting a one-place penalty. Verstappen was unimpressed with Russell's antics and called him out in public after the race.

Russell did not sit back and retaliated with a press conference of his own in Abu Dhabi and called the Red Bull driver a "bully". In an exclusive interview with Autosport published on February 17, George Russell addressed the reactions from the Dutch fans and mentioned that while he didn't come across the criticism, some of his teammates bore the brunt of abuse online.

“I didn't see any of it myself, but I do know there was a lot of criticism out there. I know members of my team were receiving emails from Dutch fans. But I think that's a part of sport and life, really, isn't it? That's something we accept. And you can choose to read it and let it have an emotional impact on you."

Mentioning that the positive or negative comments didn't factor in his track performance, Russell added:

"So I just have this view and mentality that even with the positive comments, does it actually make me drive faster? Probably not, and there are more negative than positive most of the time, so I do really try and avoid it.”

George Russell inherited the pole position from Max Verstappen in Qatar but was unable to make the most of the position as he fell out of the podium places and was overtaken by the latter and Lando Norris heading into Turn 1.

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George Russell explains the source behind his frustration with Max Verstappen

Mercedes driver George Russell said that he was "frustrated" with the events at the front of the grid last year involving Max Verstappen but his feeling "tipped over" after Qatar.

During the aforementioned exclusive, the three-time F1 race winner reflected on the source of his comments and said:

“I was frustrated watching the sport last year, when there should have been such a great title battle, and it was not, so those comments in Qatar tipped me over the edge. I just thought of everything that had happened, from the on-track driving antics to where he was talking off-track. It wasn't acceptable and something needed to be done.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff too had some choice words for his Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner regarding the Brit's defense of his charge. Horner had earlier termed Russell's behavior in the steward's room as "hysterical".