"No skin to skin contact, the beef goes on": Fans react to Max Verstappen and George Russell pictured together in the GPDA group photo

F1 fans were left reeling after Max Verstappen and George Russell were pictured together in a GPDA group photo ahead of the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend. The two drivers have been going at each other publicly.

Initially, the Red Bull driver claimed that he "lost all respect" for the Brit for his behavior in the stewards' room after the qualifying session at last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.

The public nature of Verstappen's comments did not sit well with the Mercedes driver as he criticized the former through Thursday media duties. But the two drivers were pictured side-by-side in the GPDA group photo posted by Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso on his social media platform, Instagram.

F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to Max Verstappen and George Russell's picture on X, with fans hilariously expressing their displeasure as the beef was seemingly over, saying:

"Boooooo....looks like the fight is over."

However, another fan corrected and mentioned:

"No skin to skin contact, the beef goes on."

"Max Verstappen and George Russell side by side."

"George and Max next to each other???? Who made that happen, I need to know," asked a fan.

"Not them seating Max and George together,'' wrote another.

"Great pic!! Max and George just trolling us all!" said another.

Red Bull team boss gives his take on Max Verstappen-George Russell beef in Abu Dhabi

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner backed his charge on Max Verstappen after George Russell retaliated to his comments and targeted the four-time F1 world champion.

In the team principal's press conference, Horner mentioned that he was not too fussed that their off-track war of words would trickle down to on-track action, saying:

"No, not at all. I think that… Look, Max, he's a very straight shooter. He just tells you exactly how he sees it. He tells the truth exactly, you know, what he feels. And obviously he had a large amount of frustration, you know, last weekend, the way things played out in a scenario that we haven't seen before and a subsequent grid penalty.

"And then, you know, he turned that into motivation and made a blinding start, led the race into the first corner, and won the Grand Prix, which is the best possible response. Now obviously, a lot's been made of it yesterday. It's pantomime season. You know, we're getting ready for Christmas. So there's maybe an element of end-of-term blues there. But I don't think it'll have any effect on the Grand Prix itself."

George Russell has been in pole position in the past two races, including the one he inherited from Max Verstappen in Qatar, and would hope to make a hattrick of P1 starting slots in Abu Dhabi this weekend.