George Russell shares crystal clear feelings on his verbal spat with $200M F1 rival Max Verstappen

George Russell has shared his verdict on the back-and-forth between him and Max Verstappen in 2024 and claimed there aren't any concerns about the Red Bull driver or his driving. The 2024 F1 season ended with an intense back-and-forth between the two drivers in Abu Dhabi.

It all began with Max Verstappen getting penalized and stripped of pole position after the F1 Qatar GP qualifying by the stewards. The Dutch driver was fuming at the call made by the stewards, and he felt that George Russell's animated demeanor pushed the stewards into making such a call.

While Max Verstappen went on to win the race anyway, jumping George Russell off the line, the Dutch driver had a few choice words to say about the Brit after the race. The Red Bull driver ultimately called the Mercedes driver two-faced, something Russell did not take well and ended up calling Verstappen a bully in his reply during the race week in Abu Dhabi.

Ahead of the season launch in the O2 arena, George Russell was questioned if he had tried to clear the air with Max Verstappen during the winter break, to which the Brit said that there weren't any concerns that he had about the driver and he hadn't tried to reach out either. He told the media, including the BBC, at F1’s season launch event:

“I haven’t spoken [to him], [but there’s] no concerns about him or his driving or anything. That happened last year and I want to focus on myself. Obviously things I felt got out of line at the end of last year and I made it pretty clear that I’m not going to take it.”

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George Russell looking to put the Max Verstappen spat in the past

The Mercedes driver is in a different role this season as this time around he's the team leader with Lewis Hamilton now at Ferrari. The second cockpit would feature Kimi Antonelli as George Russell takes on the leader role within the team.

Talking to the media, the driver stressed the importance of focusing on what's next instead of looking at the past. The driver said he was focused on winning and hence wouldn't change his approach to fighting Max Verstappen or any other driver. He said:

“But now it’s 2025 and I’m focused on the job and the job is to win. So I’m not going to change my approach, fighting him, fighting any other drivers. The goal is the same and I guess we’ll see when we get to Melbourne.”

The 2025 F1 season is a crucial one for Russell as the driver is now in the role of a team leader and trying to take on the mantle of being the benchmark at Mercedes.