Mercedes star slams 'BULLY' Verstappen in crash threat claim

Max Verstappen has been labelled a 'bully' by George Russell in an astonishing attack ahead of this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The comments come following what was a highly controversial race in Qatar last time out, where Verstappen secured his ninth victory of the season.

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It wasn't all smooth sailing for the Dutchman however, having received a one-place grid penalty for driving too slowly in qualifying.

The incident sparked a furious response from George Russell, who felt he was blocked as he made his way around the Lusail International Circuit, with the Brit expressing his displeasure in the stewards' room post-session.

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Verstappen then insisted he had lost all respect for his Mercedes counterpart, accusing him of lobbying for the penalty, with the pair embroiled in an ongoing war of words since Sunday's race.

And the feud shows no signs of ending any time soon, after Russell slammed the four-time world champion in front of the media gathered at Yas Marina.

"I find it all quite ironic seeing as Saturday night he said he was going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and ‘put me on my f****** head in the wall’," said the 26-year-old.

"So to question somebody’s integrity as a person, while saying comments like that the day before, I find is very ironic, and I’m not going to sit here and accept it.

"People have been bullied by Max for years now, and you can’t question his driving abilities. But he cannot deal with adversity.

"Whenever anything has gone against him - Jeddah ’21, Brazil ’21 - he lashes out.

"Budapest this year, the very first race the car wasn’t dominant, crashing into Lewis, slamming his whole team.

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"For me, those comments on Saturday night and Sunday were totally disrespectful and unnecessary, because what happens on track, we fight hard, that’s part of racing.

"What happens in the stewards’ room, you fight hard, but it’s never personal. But he’s taken it too far now.

"He said: ‘I don’t know why you would want to screw me like this, I’m so disappointed in you. I was going to not even race you tomorrow, I was going to let you by, but now if I have to, I will purposely go out of my way to put you on your f****** head in the wall'.

"So I don’t understand why he was so unnecessarily aggressive and violent in that regard."

Later, Russell told Sky Sports in the media pen: "I've known Max for 12 years. I respected him all this time but now I have lost respect him. We are all fighting on track and it's never personal.

"Now he's made it personal and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this."

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