Verstappen was handed a one-place grid drop after he broke the minimum lap time set by race director Rui Marques, and the Brit was promoted to pole position.
Whilst Verstappen won the race in Qatar, the champion remained furious with Russell for his actions in the stewards room as he campaigned for his penalty.
The Dutchman then labelled Russell as two-faced, and claimed he had lost all respect for the Brit after the penalty.
However, Russell retaliated in Abu Dhabi will a lengthy tirade against the four-time world champion, where he made a series of damning claims.
Amongst them he called Verstappen a ‘bully’ and alleged that he was approached by the champion prior to the race in Qatar and threatened that he would put Russell's 'f****** head in the wall'.